Atomic-level simulation of epitaxial recrystallization and phase transformation in SiC

A nano-sized amorphous layer embedded in an atomic simulation cell was used to study the amorphous-to-crystalline (a-c) transition and subsequent phase transformation by molecular-dynamics computer simulations in 3C–SiC. The recovery of bond defects at the interfaces is an important process driving the initial epitaxial recrystallization of the amorphous layer, which is hindered by the nucleation of a polycrystalline 2H–SiC phase. The kink sites and triple junctions formed at the interfaces between 2H– and 3C–SiC provide low-energy paths for 2H–SiC atoms to transform to 3C–SiC atoms. The spectrum of activation energies associated with these processes ranges from below 0.8 eV to about 1.9 eV.