Silicon carbide epitaxial layer growths on Acheson seed crystals from silicon melt

Silicon carbide epitaxial layer growth was carried out on both Si- and C-faces of the 6H-SiC Acheson seed crystals by a technique similar to that used for the sublimation growth of bulk single crystals of this material. High-resolution XRD (HRXRD) measurements showed the single crystalline structure for these grown layers. RHEED patterns confirmed that the grown layers are of single crystalline nature having (n×n) surface reconstruction. Raman spectroscopy showed the same polytype for the grown layers as that of the seed crystals. Atomic force and optical microscopy revealed smooth, uniform and mirror like surfaces for the grown layers. Step flow growth mechanism was observed on both Si- and C-faces of the seed crystal. The grown layers show similar characteristic features as that observed for the SiC layers grown by other techniques such as liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The technique used is a simple, viable and new alternative for growing SiC epitaxial layers.