Layered growth model and epitaxial growth structures for SiCAlN alloys

Epitaxial growth structures for (SiC)1-x(AlN)x alloys are studied using a layered growth model. First-principle calculations are used to determine the parameters in the layered growth model. The phase diagrams of epitaxial growth are given. There is a rich variety of the new metastable polytype structures at x=16,15,14,13, and 12 in the layered growth phase diagrams. We have also calculated the electronic properties of the short periodical SiCAlN alloys predicted by our layered growth model. The results show that various ordered structures of (SiC)1-x(AlN)x alloys with the band gaps over a wide range are possible to be synthesized by epitaxial growth.