Formation process of 3C-SiC on 6H-SiC (0001) by low-temperature solution growth in Si-Sc-C system

K. Seki (1) , A. Alexander , S. Kozawa , T. Ujihara , Patrick Chaudouet (2) , D. Chaussende (2) , Y. Takeda

1 STEL - Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory [Nagoya]
2 LMGP - Laboratoire des matériaux et du génie physique

We recently achieved heteroepitaxial growth of high-quality 3C-SiC on a 6H-SiC 0001 plane using an Si-Sc solvent. The present study seeks to determine the polytype transition mechanism from 6H to 3C that occurs during growth. 3C-SiC grows by 2D nucleation, which gives rise to flat domains, whereas 6H-SiC grows by spiral growth originating from threading screw dislocations in the seed crystal. 3C-SiC expands laterally, covering the spiral growth of 6H-SiC. This preferential growth of 3C-SiC can be explained in terms of geometrical selection due to different growth rates of the two polytypes. We developed a simple model that considers the step height and the step density. It predicts that growth of 3C-SiC by 2D nucleation will have a higher growth rate than 6H-SiC spiral growth in a certain supersaturation range. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Domaines: Matériaux

K. Seki, A. Alexander, S. Kozawa, T. Ujihara, Patrick Chaudouet, et al.. Formation process of 3C-SiC on 6H-SiC (0001) by low-temperature solution growth in Si-Sc-C system. Journal of Crystal Growth, 2011, 335 (1), pp.94-99. ⟨10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2011.09.004⟩. ⟨hal-01067466⟩