THEORY OF THE ALN SIC(10(1)OVER-BAR0) INTERFACE/

We report first-principles calculations of surface and interface energ ies for AlN(<10(1)over bar 0>) and SiC(<10(1)over bar 0>). On the basi s of our calculations we predict the atomic structure of the interface . We find that there is an interaction between the surface and the int erface mediated by their respective strain fields. Consequently, the f ormation energy of very thin films of AW on SiC deviates from that exp ected on the basis of a simple model in which E-film = sigma(film) - s igma(sub) + E-int. Our results indicate that AW films of thickness 3-4 bilayers will wet the SiC surface.