Nucleation Control of Cubic Silicon Carbide on 6H-Substrates

The nucleation of cubic (3C) SiC on on-axis 6H-SiC was investigated in the temperature range 1500-1775 degrees C by the technique of sublimation epitaxy. We have studied two different cases: (i) the initial homoepitaxial growth of 6H-SiC followed by nucleation of 3C-SiC and (ii) nucleation of homoepitaxial 6H-SiC islands. The supersaturation in the growth cell was calculated using the modeled source to substrate temperature difference. We show that, at low temperature and supersaturation, growth of 6H-SiC commences in spiral growth mode, which prepares the surface for 3C-SiC nucleation. Provided the supersaturation is high enough, the 3C-SiC nucleates as two-dimensional islands on terraces of the homoepitaxial 6H-SiC. Detailed structural study indicates that the 3C-SiC began to grow on defect free surfaces. From the experimental and modeling results, we show that the growth parameter window for 3C-SiC is rather narrow. Deviation from it can result in 6H-SiC growth in spiral or 2D-nucleation mode, which suggests the importance of knowledge of supersaturation.