Monte Carlo Study of the early Growth Stages of 3C-SiC on Misoriented <11-20> and <1-100> 6H-SiC Substrates: Role of Step-Island Interaction

Abstract

In this paper we use three dimensional kinetic Monte Carlo simulations on super-lattices to study the hetero-polytypical growth of cubic silicon carbide polytype (3C-SiC) on hexagonal 6H-SiC step-bunched substrates with miscuts towards the <11-20> and <1-100> directions. We find that the preferential 3C conversion observed on <1-100> misoriented substrates could be due to a different step-to-island interaction which enhances island stability and expansion in this specific direction. For this reason 3-4° degrees off step-bunched 6H substrates with miscut towards the <1-100> direction should be the best choice for the stable and reproducible hetero-polytypical growth of high quality cubic epitaxial films.