Minute amounts of carbon present on Si surfaces during the ultra-high vacuum annealing necessary to produce the characteristic Si{111}-(7 x 7) and Si{001}-(2 x 2) ec superlattices, led to the formation of β-SiC crystallites on these superlattice surfaces. The presence of these crystals cannot be observed by low energy diffraction. However, reflection high energy diffraction and Auger spectroscopy were both sensitive enough to detect the corresponding Laue patterns and C-spectra respectively. Energy loss transitions characteristic of the chemical state of Si in β-SiC were observable with high-resolution Auger spectroscopy.

Observations of β-SiC Formation on Reconstructed Si Surfaces. G.O.Krause: Physica Status Solidi A, 1970, 3[4], 899-906