Stacking faults at the boundary between 15R- and 4H-polytype in SiC

The availability of large high-quality silicon carbide (SiC) single crystals is a key issue in the development of the full potential of SiC-based device technology. In this letter, 4H-SiC crystals were grown on the (0001¯) substrates with 4° off-orientation toward <11¯00>. It had been found that there existed high density stacking faults (SFs) at the boundary between the 15R- and 4H-polytype. The HR-TEM observation revealed that this kind of SFs was of the 3C-SiC polytype. Meanwhile, the Raman spectra from these SFs suggested that the peaks at ~ 782 and ~ 796 cm− 1 were both sensitive to SFs. Especially, the band at ~ 782 cm− 1 can be the feature peak for identifying SFs with 15R inclusion.

► 4H-SiC crystals were grown on 4H (0001¯)-SiC seed 4° off-orientated to <11¯00>. ► There existed high density stacking faults at the boundary of polytype inclusions. ► HR-TEM observation revealed the stacking fault was of the 3C-SiC polytype. ► The Raman peaks at ~ 782 and ~ 796 cm− 1 were both sensitive to this stacking fault.