Experimental data on the preparation of stoichiometric nanoporous silicon carbide were analyzed. Theoretical calculations were performed under the assumption that nanopores were formed through the vacancy diffusion mechanism. The results obtained confirmed the hypothesis that the formation of pores with a steady-state radius of several tens of nanometers in silicon carbide could be associated with the diffusion and clustering of vacancies. The experimental data indicating that the proposed mechanism of formation of nanoporous silicon carbide correlates with the existing model of formation of porous silicon carbide with a fiber structure were considered. This correlation could be revealed by assuming that nanopores were formed at the first stage with subsequent transformation of the nanoporous structure into a fiber structure due to the dissolution of the material in an electrolyte.

On the Role of Vacancies in Pore Formation in the Course of Anodizing of Silicon Carbide. M.G.Mynbaeva, D.A.Bauman, K.D.Mynbaev: Physics of the Solid State, 2005, 47[9], 1630-6