Sublimation epitaxy of cubic silicon carbide in vacuum

The epitaxial growth was compared of cubic silicon carbide on 6H-SiC substrates prepared in four different ways: (i) as received, (ii) re-polished, (iii) annealed and subsequently covered by a Si layer, (iv) with a (111) 3C-SiC buffer layer. The morphological details of the grown layers were studied by optical microscopy and their structure, by transmission electron microscopy. The influence of the substrate on the nucleation of 3C-SiC, on the homoepitaxial 6H-SiC nucleation before 3C-SiC and on the defect formation, primarily twinning, is discussed.