The implication of the surface inclination for the crystalline and surface morphologies of SiGe films grown on Si(110) substrates was investigated. Compositionally step-graded SiGe films were grown on an exact substrate and on a vicinal substrate by using gas-source Molecular beam epitaxy. By comparing the reciprocal space maps (RSM) and cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) images, the implications of microtwin formation for the surface morphology and for the crystal lattice structure were also investigated. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.