A theoretical study was made of 30° and 90° Shockley partial dislocations which lay on the {111} and basal planes of cubic and hexagonal SiC, respectively. Density-functional based tight-binding total-energy calculations were used to determine the core structures and energetics of the dislocations. In a second step, their electronic structure was investigated by using a pseudopotential method with a Gaussian basis set. Finally, the thermal activation barriers to the glide motion of 30° and 90° Shockley partials were calculated in terms of a process that involved the formation and migration of kinks along the dislocation line.

Structure and Motion of Basal Dislocations in Silicon Carbide. A.T.Blumenau, C.J.Fall, R.Jones, S.Öberg, T.Frauenheim, P.R.Briddon: Physical Review B, 2003, 68[17], 174108 (14pp)