The surface morphology of Hg0.8Cd0.2Te epilayers on (111) +/-0.5degrees oriented Cd0.96Zn0.04Te substrates grown from Te-rich solution by LPE using horizontal slider has been studied. The surface morphology, apart from exhibiting the terrace patterns typical of LPE growth, shows other surface features like pin holes/voids, Hg-evaporation points, slider scratch marks and some long-distance perturbations in the layer thickness visible to the naked eye. Also, discussed are the surface morphology of the layer at edge regions and the effect of non-smooth slide-out of the layer on its surface morphology. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.