Structural Evolution of 3C-SiC Grown by Sublimation Epitaxy

Epitaxial 3C-SiC layers have been grown on 6H-SiC substrate via sublimation growth in a RF induction heated reactor. The growth process was carried out at a source temperature 2000° C under vacuum condition at temperature gradient in the range of 5-8° C/mm. The morphological investigation by optical microscope with Nomarski interference contrast in transmission mode reveals 100% inclusion free 3C-SiC for the layer grown at temperature gradient of 8° C/mm. 2Theta-omega scan shows 0006 and 111 peaks coming from the substrate and the layer, respectively. The higher intensity of 3C-SiC 111 peak for the layer grown at temperature gradient of 8° C/mm is due to continuous nature of 3C-SiC domains compared to that grown at lower temperature gradient. The influence of the temperature gradient on the morphology of layers investigated by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is discussed.