An analysis was made of the electronic structure of in-grown 3C and 8H stacking faults in a 4H–SiC matrix. The low-temperature photoluminescence optical signatures of stacking faults were first considered. The results of type-II quantum-well model calculations were then included; taking into account the effect of the valence-band off-set, internal polarization field and non-homogeneity of the potential well. In this case, it was shown that a satisfactory description of 3C quantum-well signatures could be obtained. The situation was very different for 8H. Since a 8H-unit cell was just two 3C lamellae coupled by an hexagonal turn, a detailed investigation was made of the effect of coupling more and more double 3C lamellae until a final 8H quantum-well was found. Reasonable agreement with experimental data could be attained in this way.

Optical Investigation of Stacking Faults in 4H–SiC Epitaxial Layers: Comparison of 3C and 8H Polytypes. S.Juillaguet, T.Robert, J.Camassel: Materials Science and Engineering B, 2009, 165[1-2], 5-8