High-Rate Rotated Epitaxy of 3C-SiC(111) on Si(110) Substrate for Qualified Epitaxial Graphene on Silicon

In the formation of epitaxial graphene on Si substrates, the growth of high-quality 3C-SiC thin films on Si substrates is a key to success. As a solution to the large mismatch between the Si substrate and the 3C-SiC film, rotated epitaxy in which 3C-SiC(111) films are grown on Si(110) substrates is quite attractive. In some applications, on the other hand, a certatin thickness (~100 nm or more) is required for this 3C-SiC films as well. A two-step growth method has been thus developed to realize a high-rate, qualified rotated epitaxy. A qualified graphene is found to be formed on this rotated epi-film, as typified by the increase of the grain size by a factor of 1.6 from the non-rotated epitaxy.