Investigation of the polytype stability of 3C-SiC crystals in solution growth using a 3C-SiC seed

Abstract

The growth of 3C-SiC bulk crystals is still a significant challenge. In this study, the influence of seed surface polarity and growth temperature on the surface morphology and polytype stability of 3C-SiC crystals using the TSSG method was systematically investigated. The results show that the crystal surface gradually becomes rough and the crystal growth rate enhances as temperature increases, regardless of the surface polarity of the seed crystal. It is also found that the 3C polytype is preferentially grown on a 3C-SiC () seed crystal at lower temperatures (1600 °C, 1650 °C, and 1700 °C). In contrast, the 3C polytype does not appear on the (111) face even when a 3C polytype seed crystal is used. The formation of polytypes may be caused by differences in surface energy and thermodynamic stability, which is verified using first-principles calculations. These results demonstrate that the () face of the 3C-SiC seed and a relatively low growth temperature provide a significant advantage for obtaining single-polytype bulk 3C-SiC crystals.