Ion-channeling study of the SiC/Si/SiO2/Si interface

Ion channeling has been used in a detailed study of 3C-SiC films grown by chemical vapor deposition on a Si/SiO2/Si substrate. For a 160-nm-thick [100]-oriented SiC film, the results show a minimum yield (chi(min)) of similar to 28% at the SiC-Si interface, while a SiC film with a thickness of similar to 2.4 mu m, grown under identical conditions, was almost defect free (chi(min) = 5.3%) in the surface region. Angular scans around the [110] axis revealed the existence of a superlattice structure at the SiC-Si interface. The strain-induced angular shift was determined to be 0.16 degrees +/- 0.05 degrees, indicating a kink between the SiC and Si layers along the inclined [110] axis. A modified model is suggested to interpret the experimental observations. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)02923-X].