We investigated the effects of growth temperature on the surface morphology of silicon layers grown by liquid phase epitaxy method on a (1 1 1) oriented silicon substrate in a relatively low-temperature range from 600degreesC to 900degreesC using Au-Bi alloy solvent. Layers are formed in the following growth sequence: (1) commencing in the form of initial nuclei as starting points of growth, (2) these structures grow along lateral and vertical directions as island structures, and (3) coalesce each other. Moreover, it was made clear that flat layers tend to cover the substrate completely at high growth temperature, in order to clarify the main factor that influences the surface morphology, an empirical model of the growth process was constructed. As a result, the temperature dependence of the surface morphology mainly depends on the temperature dependence of the preferential growth direction of Si on Si (1 1 1). (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.