A thin layer of Au which had been grown epitaxially in a 3C-SiC/Si interface was studied by using conventional and high-resolution electron microscopy. Misfit dislocations were observed in both the SiC/Au and Au/Si interfaces, and had Burgers vectors of ½<¯110> which were parallel to the interfaces. Epitaxy was possible in spite of the very high misfit of the Au/Si interface. The net of misfit dislocations was visible only in cross-sectional high-resolution electron microscopic images. Mass transport 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. The same mechanism permitted Si transport from the 3C-SiC/Si interface to the upper surface of the SiC, upon which islands of Si and Au formed.

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