Structural and morphological investigations of the initial stages in solidsource molecular beam epitaxy of SiC on (111)Si

The solid source molecular beam epitaxy is known to allow the lowest proces s temperatures to grow SiC on silicon. In this work, we investigated the nu cleation and the initial SIC growth and propose a growth model in dependenc e on the supersaturation. At high supersaturation, a smooth continuous laye rs with large voids in the substrate and especially at low temperatures non -cubic inclusions are formed. At low supersaturations. we found large islan ds which are separated by deep trenches. Both cases allow an unlimited sili con transport to the surface. In an intermediate range, both types of defec ts can be reduced. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.