A thin layer of Au which had been grown epitaxially onto a 3C-SiC/Si interface was observed by using conventional and high-resolution electron microscopy. Misfit dislocations were observed in both the Au/SiC and Au/Si interfaces, and had Burgers vectors of the form ½<¯110> parallel to the interfaces. Epitaxy occurred in spite of a very high misfit of the Au/Si interface. The network of misfit dislocations was visible only by means of cross-sectional high-resolution electron microscopy. Mass transport of Au through the unaffected SiC film was attributed to pipe diffusion through the partial dislocations which bounded the stacking faults and inversion domain boundaries that pre-existed in the 3C-SiC.

Gold Films Epitaxially Grown by Diffusion at the 3C-SiC/Si Interface. P.Komninou, J.Stoemenos, G.Nouet, T.Karakostas: Journal of Crystal Growth, 1999, 203[1-2], 103-12