Crystal Chemistry of Silicon Carbide

Recent data on crystal chemistry and polytypes on silicon carbide are reviewed, and brief discussions are given on the origin of SiC polytypes, i.e. the thermal stability of basic polytypes such as 2H, 3C, 4H, 15R and 6H, the effects of foreign atoms incorporated in the lattice on the stability of the basic polytypes, and the stability of long-period polytypes.