Lateral Enlargement Growth Mechanism of 3C-SiC on Off-Oriented 4H-SiC Substrates

We introduce a 3C-SiC growth concept on off-oriented 4H-SiC substrates using a sublimation epitaxial method. A growth model of 3C-SiC layer development via a controlled cubic polytype nucleation on in situ formed on-axis area followed by a lateral enlargement of 3C-SiC domains along the step-flow direction is outlined. Growth process stability and reproducibility of high crystalline quality material are demonstrated in a series of 3C-SiC samples with a thickness of about 1 mm. The average values of full width at half-maximum of omega rocking curves on these samples vary from 34 to 48 arcsec indicating high crystalline quality compared to values found in the literature. The low temperature photoluminescence measurements also confirm a high crystalline quality of 3C-SiC and indicate that the residual nitrogen concentration is about 1-2 x 10 (16) cm(-3). Such a 3C-SiC growth concept may be applied to produce substrates for homoepitaxial 3C-SiC growth or seeds which could be explored in bulk growth of 3C-SiC.