Paper detail

Structure and morphology evolution of concave-shaped SiC {0001} surfaces in liquid silicon

Concave-shaped 4H-SiC {0001} surfaces have been prepared and reconstructed in pure liquid silicon for investigating the structure and morphology evolution of the SiC surface as a function of both azimuthal and off-axis angles. Different surface characteristics are revealed on two polar surfaces where only the Si face reflects the six-fold symmetry of 4H-SiC crystal. On the Si face, the step bunching along the <1100> direction is stronger than the <1120> direction, which is related to the bonding state at the step edge. More significant step bunching is observed on the C face whereas it is not sensitive to azimuthal orientation. The extent of step faceting is stronger on the Si face. The step faceting is independent of the off angle on both polarities of SiC {0001} surfaces.