Growth of 3C-(Si<sub>1-x</sub>C<sub>1-y</sub>)Ge<sub>x+y</sub> Layers on 4H-SiC by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Abstract

In the present work cubic 3C-(Si1-xC1-y)Gex+y solid solutions were grown at different^temperatures by molecular beam epitaxy on on-axis 4H-SiC (0001) substrates. Two different growth methods are compared in order to explore the optimal growth conditions for the incorporation of Ge into the SiC lattice during the low temperature epitaxy. For this reason simultaneous growth and migration enhanced epitaxy were used. The chemical composition of the grown layers were analyzed by energy dispersive x-ray methods during transmission electron microscopy investigations. It was found that the migration enhanced epitaxy is a more suitable technique for the formation of high quality (Si1-xC1-y)Gex+y solid solutions. Additionally, polytypes transition from 4H-SiC to 3C-SiC occurs during the growth independent of the applied growth technique.