Reconstructing a SiC surface is all about order and disorder

How do you reconstruct the C-face of a silicon carbide (SiC) wafer after cutting? The issue has been the subject of great debate since an early observation that dates back to 1997. An international team led by Irig simulated a novel approach to surface reconstruction never before used for semiconductors. The research was published in Applied Physics Letters.

The cutting process creates a strong disorder in the charge transfer between unpassivated dangling bonds. An all-silicon overlayer forms in an ordered network. Below this overlayer, disorder is observed to offset the dangling bonds of certain carbon atoms. This research will be of interest to any researcher working with SiC on topics related to power electronics or graphene growth, for example.

Contact: pascal.pochet@cea.fr
Learn more at: www.mem-lab.fr/en/Pages/News/FM_2020_Pascal-Pochet.asp

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