Crystallographic defects under device-killing surface faults in a homoepitaxially grown film of SiC

• Published in: Materials science & engineering. A, Structural materials : properties, microstructure and processing Structural materials : properties, microstructure and processing, 2003-11, Vol.361 (1), p.67-74
• Main Authors: Okada, Tatsuya, Kimoto, Tsunenobu, Yamai, Keita, Matsunami, Hiroyuki, Inoko, Fukuji
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Defects and impurities: doping, implantation, distribution, concentration, etc; Exact sciences and technology; Homoepitaxy; Physics; Polytype; Silicon carbide (SiC); Stacking fault (SF); Surface morphological fault; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Thin film structure and morphology; Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
• ISSN: 0921-5093; 1873-4936
• DOI: 10.1016/S0921-5093(03)00520-3

Conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was conducted to identify crystallographic defects under some types of “device-killing” surface morphological faults on an epitaxial film grown on a 4H-SiC (0 0 0 1) off-cut substrate. The “comet” fault composed of a nucleus and a tail is accompanied by 3C-SiC of zinc blende structure. The “triangular defect” characterized by its isosceles shape is associated with stacking fault (SF) on the (0 0 0 1) 4H plane. Based on TEM contrast analysis, stacking faults on {1 1 1} planes introduced in a 3C-SiC “comet” fault and the formation mechanism of “triangular defect” are discussed.