HIGH-TEMPERATURE ION-BEAM SYNTHESIS OF CUBIC SIC

The β-SiC (or 3C-SiC) synthesis through high-dose carbon implantation into a silicon substrate heated at high temperature is studied by means of cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, infrared absorption spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, channeling, and nuclear reaction analysis. It is shown that a thick buried layer of β-SiC (about 300 nm) is directly formed after multiple implantations at 860°C without post-implantation annealing. This layer is not continuous but consists of small monocrystalline grains (average size ∼7 nm) in a near-perfect epitaxial relationship with the silicon matrix. These grains are only slightly misorientated (∼3.5°) but are severely twinned on {111} planes.