The atomistic structure of the 3C-SiC/Si(001) interface was investigated using a combination of aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy and a newly developed image processing method for eliminating artificial contrast. Structures having periods four times longer than those of the silicon lattice were observed distinctly in images taken along both Si[110] and Si[100] directions. Contrary to previously proposed theoretical models, the interface of the three-dimensional structural model that was constructed on the basis of the experiments had a silicon-rich configuration. It was shown that the strain field induced by the two-dimensional misfit between Si(001)-(4 x 4) and SiC(001)-(5 x 5) was relaxed by the two-dimensional network of misfit dislocations; simple edge dislocations with [100] and [010] directions and Lomer dislocations with [110] and [110] directions. The atomistic structures of the Lomer dislocations were also clarified.

Atomic Arrangement at the 3C-SiC/Si(001) Interface Revealed Utilising Aberration-Corrected Transmission Electron Microscope. S.Inamoto, J.Yamasaki, H.Tamaki, N.Tanaka: Philosophical Magazine Letters, 2011, 91[9], 632-9