Defect morphology and strain of CVD grown 3C-SiC layers: effect of the carbonization process

The heterostructure formed by cubic silicon carbide/silicon (3C–SiC/Si) is very promising as substrate for cubic III‐N growth and for SiC devices. Optimized Si substrate carbonization process before the epitaxial growth of SiC, leads to a higher quality of the layer. In this paper, transmission electron microscopy is used to analyze the defect morphology and strain of SiC layers grown by chemical vapor deposition on two differently carbonized substrates, with tensile and compressive strain state. Misfit dislocations, stack‐ ing faults and antiphase domains are observed in this heteroepitaxial system. Irrespective of the substrate used, the epitaxial relationship between Si and SiC is good. However, the grain misorientation of the mosaic structure and the strain of the overgrowth layer depend drastically on the carbonization conditions of the silicon substrate. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)