High‐temperature ion beam synthesis of cubic SiC

The β‐SiC (or 3C‐SiC) synthesis through high‐dose carbon implantation into a silicon substrate heated at high temperature is studied by means of cross‐sectional transmission electron microscopy, x‐ray diffraction, infrared absorption spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, channeling, and nuclear reaction analysis. It is shown that a thick buried layer of β‐SiC (about 300 nm) is directly formed after multiple implantations at 860 °C without post‐implantation annealing. This layer is not continuous but consists of small monocrystalline grains (average size ∼7 nm) in a near‐perfect epitaxial relationship with the silicon matrix. These grains are only slightly misorientated (∼3.5°) but are severely twinned on {111} planes.