Control of the formation of a stepped-terrace Surface on 6H-SiC(0001) substrates by in situ reflection electron microscopy
Durakov D.E.1,2, Petrov A.S.
1,2, Rogilo D.I.1,2, Sheglov D.V. 1,2, Latyshev A.V. 1,2
1Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
2Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia
Email: durakov@isp.nsc.ru
The formation of stepped-terraced morphology on the vicinal surface of 6H-SiC(0001) during high-temperature annealing was studied using in situ ultrahigh-vacuum reflection electron microscopy in combination with ex situ atomic force microscopy. It was established that under ultrahigh-vacuum annealing conditions at temperatures of 1160-1200 oC, step bunching processes are activated, leading to the formation of macrosteps consisting of three SiC bilayers with a height of 0.75 nm without altering the stoichiometric composition. Annealing at 1250 oC for 10 min resulted in step bunching with the formation of the smoothest terraces, accompanied by a carbon buffer layer on the surface resulting from silicon sublimation. Keywords: graphene, SiC, AFM, REM.
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