Vacancy growth of monocrystalline SiC from Si by the method of self-consistent substitution of atoms

A modified technique for the growth of silicon carbide from silicon by the method of self-consistent substitution of atoms is proposed, which makes it possible to increase the achievable thickness of the formed silicon carbide layer by about an order of magnitude. The technique includes an additional step before the growth process: the surface of the silicon substrate is being saturated with vacancies by annealing in vacuum at T = 1350 degrees C for ~ 30 min. This leads to a change in the mechanism of mass transfer from the interstitial to the vacancy one when silicon atoms are being substituted by carbon atoms. As a result, not only the thickness of the silicon carbide layer increases, but also the separation of silicon carbide from the silicon substrate occurs if the thickness of the SiC layer surpasses 400 nm.

Automated summary

A modified technique for growing silicon carbide from silicon by self-consistent substitution of atoms is proposed, which enables a significant increase in the achievable thickness of the silicon carbide layer. The technique includes a surface treatment step to promote the separation of silicon carbide from the silicon substrate.