Vapor–Liquid–Solid Growth of 3C-SiC on α-SiC Substrates. 2. Growth Kinetics

Abstract

The growth kinetics of 3C-SiC heteroepitaxial layers on α-SiC substrates by a vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mechanism in Ge-Si melts was investigated. Various parameters were studied such as temperature, melt composition, crucible inner diameter, propane flux, and substrate nature (polytype, polarity, and misorientation). It was found that the growth rate increases with increasing temperature, propane flux, Si content of the melt, and misorientation of the substrate. The calculated activation energy (from 4.7 to 6.6 kcal/mol depending on the substrate type) is very small suggesting that the limiting process is the diffusion of the dissolved carbon inside the melt. The carbon solubility inside the melt mainly affects the carbon dissolution kinetics from the gas phase. The results also suggest that surface effects are important through the layer polarity, the roughness and the emerging defect density.