Activation energy of subgrain growth process and morphology evolution in β-SiC/Si(111) heterostructures synthesized by pulse photon treatment method in a methane atmosphere

Single-phase β-SiC films were grown by the pulsed photon treatment (PPT) of (111)Si wafers with the use of xenon lamp radiation in a methane atmosphere. Study of phase composition, structure and morphology revealed that β-SiC oriented nanocrystalline films are formed onto both non-irradiated and irradiated surfaces under the radiation energy range from 269 to 284 J cm⁻² supplied for 3 s. The non-irradiated side was undergone the rapid thermal annealing (RTA). It is demonstrated that the average subgrain size increases from 4.2 nm (E_p = 269 J cm⁻²) to 7.9 nm (E_p = 284 J cm⁻²) and from 3.9 to 7.0 nm for the irradiated and non-irradiated sides respectively when radiation energy density rises. The surface roughness of β-SiC films increases gradually from 19 to 60 nm and from 11 to 56 nm on irradiated and non-irradiated sides respectively in the same radiation energy density range. The β-SiC subgrain growth activation energy is 1.3 eV and it does not depend on the activation method. The surface roughness evolves with the activation energy of 2.5 eV and 3.5 eV for PPT and RTA respectively.