Coexistence of bunching and meandering instability in simulated growth of 4H-SiC(0001) surface

Abstract

Bunching and meandering instability of steps at the 4H-SiC(0001) surface is studied by the kinetic Monte Carlo simulation method. Change in the character of step instability is analyzed for different rates of particle jumps towards step. In the experiment effective value of jump rates can be controlled by impurities or other growth conditions. An anisotropy of jump barriers at the step influences the character of surface structure formed in the process of crystal growth. Depending on the growth parameters different surface patterns are found. We show phase diagrams of surface patterns as a function of temperature and crystal growth rate for two different choices of step kinetics anisotropy. Jump rates which effectively model high inverse Schwoebel barrier (ISB) at steps lead either to regular, four-multistep or bunched structure. For weak anisotropy at higher temperatures or for lower crystal growth rates meanders and mounds are formed, but on coming towards lower temperatures and higher rates, we observe bunch and meander coexistence. These results show that interplay between simple dynamical mechanisms induced by the asymmetry of the step kinetics and step movement assisted by the step edge diffusion are responsible for different types of surface morphology.