Atomic force microscopy is employed to investigate the surface morphology of the {110} faces of MMTC crystals grown at 40 degrees C at a supersaturation of sigma = 0.5. Growth hillocks generated by dislocation sources often appear in groups, which leads to faster growth of the local area and forming layers with large height difference up to 30 nm. Growth centers operate nearly equally during the growth process. Serried and sparse monolayer steps dominate alternately on the surface, which is thought to be distinct phenomenon of the two-metal-centered complex compounds family. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.