The 4:5 Si-to-SiC atomic lattice matching interfaces in the system of Si(111) heteroepitaxially grown on 6H-SiC(001) substrates

Abstract Corresponding lattice planes of 4:5 Si-to-SiC atomic matching structures are observed at the Si(111)/6H-SiC(001) interface. The periodical Si/SiC interface structure is further illustrated and characterized by an atomic model derived from experiment results. It is discovered that there is a minor lattice mismatch of 0.26% in the structure. Moreover, the atomic structure of the interface and its stability are energetically investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. The results demonstrate that the atomic relaxations caused by lattice mismatch are slight to the growth of a perfect crystalline Si film and the interfaces are quite stable with the formation energy of −22.452 eV.