It is believed that atomic-scale surface steps cause defects in single-crys
tal films grown heteroepitaxially on SiC substrates. A method is described
whereby surface steps can be grown out of existence on arrays of device-siz
e mesas on commercial "on-axis" SiC wafers. Step-free mesas with dimensions
up to 200 mu m square have been produced on 4H-SiC wafers and up to 50 mu
m square on a 6H-SiC wafer. A limiting factor in scaling up the size and yi
eld of the step-free mesas is the density of screw dislocations in the SiC
wafers. The fundamental significance of this work is that it demonstrates t
hat two-dimensional nucleation of SiC can be suppressed while carrying out
step-flow growth on (0001)SiC. The application of this method should enable
the realization of improved heteroepitaxially-grown SiC and GaN device str
uctures. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)02636-X].