Parametric investigation of the formation of epitaxial Ti3SiC2 on 4H-SiC from Al-Ti annealing

The growth of Ti3SiC2 thin films was studied onto 4H-SiC (0 0 0 1) 8° and 4°-off substrates by thermal annealing of TixAl1−x (0.5 ≤ x ≤ 1) layers. The annealing time was fixed at 10 min under Argon atmosphere. The synthesis conditions were also investigated according to the annealing temperature (900-1200 °C) after deposition. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) show that the layer of Ti3SiC2 is epitaxially grown on the 4H-SiC substrate. In addition the interface looks sharp and smooth with evidence of interfacial ordering. Moreover, during the annealing procedure, the formation of unwanted aluminum oxide was detected by using X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS); this layer can be removed by using a specific annealing procedure.