3C-SiC Island Growth on 4H-Sic Terraces: Statistical Evidence for the Orientation Selection Rule

Abstract

3C-SiC islands were grown on atomically flat (111) 4H-SiC terraces and characterized by micro-Raman and FTIR. The islands initially have a triangular shape as defined by three {100} planes and over time evolve into hexagonal shaped islands. The triangular shape reveals the domain orientation of the island and is easily observed with an optical microscope. Examining 347 3C-SiC islands on 17 4H-SiC terraces we found that islands grown on the same terrace have the same domain orientation with 99.6% probability. The orientation of 3C-SiC islands grown on adjacent terraces was found to be close to random. This work confirms an orientation selection rule with high probability, suggesting that 3C-SiC can be grown without anti-phase domains or DPBs when grown on a single atomically flat 4H-SiC terrace, even when there are multiple nucleation sites.