Polytype-selective growth of SiC by supersaturation control in solution growth

We realized the polytype-selective growth of 3C–SiC and 6H–SiC on a 6H–SiC (0001) seed crystal by controlling the supersaturation. Both 6H–SiC and 3C–SiC grew on the 6H–SiC seed crystal at low supersaturation, but 3C–SiC increased with increasing supersaturation. At high supersaturation, 3C–SiC grew so rapidly that it completely covered the 6H–SiC seed crystal. The growth rates of 3C–SiC and 6H–SiC have different dependences on supersaturation. In the present case, the growth rate of 3C–SiC in 2D nucleation mode is compared with that of 6H–SiC in spiral growth mode. The present kinetic polytype-control technique is based on polytypes having different growth rates and it differs considerably from the conventional technique that is based on “inheritance” of stacking sequence, which is well known as “step-controlled epitaxy”. ► We performed polytype-selective growth of 3C–SiC and 6H–SiC by controlling supersaturation. ► The growth rates of 3C–SiC and 6H–SiC had different dependences on supersaturation. ► 3C-SiC grew covering the 6H-SiC seeds completely at a high supersaturation. ► Our kinetics-based polytype control is quite different from conventional technique.