Atomic force and scanning tunneling microscopy studies have been perfo
rmed on GaAs(001) films grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Multilayered
mounds are seen to evolve when the growth conditions favor island nucl
eation. As the epilayer thickness is increased, these features grow in
all dimensions but the angle of inclination remains approximately con
stant at 1 degrees. The mounding does not occur on surfaces grown in s
tep-flow. We propose that the multi-layered features are due to an uns
table growth mode which relies on island nucleation and the presence o
f a step edge barrier.