Solid phase epitaxial growth of 3C–SiC thin film on Si and annihilation of nanopores

The solid phase epitaxial growth of 3C–SiC, 2–5 nm thick, on (0 0 1) Si by annealing 1–2 nm carbon overlayers has been investigated by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. High-temperature annealing in the range of 850–950 °C results in solid phase cube-on-cube epitaxial growth of SiC films. This is accompanied by the formation of nanopores below the SiC epilayer in the Si substrate. Such nanopores, formed with truncated octahedron morphology consisting of {1 1 1} and (0 0 1) facets, are annihilated by diffusion of Ge deposited onto the SiC surface. It was also observed that the Ge islands on top of SiC exhibit a cube-on-cube orientation relation with SiC and the Ge overlayer reduces the density of faults in SiC considerably.