Epitaxial Growth and Characterization of Void-Free 3C-SiC Films on Germanium-Modified Si Substrates using RTCVD

Cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) is an attractive wide band gap semiconductor, frequently employed under extreme conditions such as high temperature, high frequency and high power, due to its superior physical and chemical properties. The electronic properties of epitaxial graphene grown on SiC integrated on silicon substrates also offer great potential as a viable candidate for ``\textit{beyond CMOS''} devices. A detailed understanding of both the structure and growth of epitaxial graphene, and the SiC/Si interfaces is very important for designing feasible devices. To this end, the work will analyze the growth and characterization of 3C-SiC on Si(100) and Si(111) substrates. 3C--SiC epitaxial crystal growth was carried out at temperatures as low as 750$^{\circ}$C using Rapid Thermal CVD. A thin germanium buffer layer was deposited on Si substrates prior to epitaxial growth of SiC to suppress the formation of voids. The precursors utilized were (CH3)3SiH and GeH4, for silicon carbide and germanium deposition, respectively.