Crystallographic defects under device-killing surface faults in a homoepitaxially grown film of SiC

Conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was conducted to identify crystallographic defects under some types of “device-killing” surface morphological faults on an epitaxial film grown on a 4H-SiC (0 0 0 1) off-cut substrate. The “comet” fault composed of a nucleus and a tail is accompanied by 3C-SiC of zinc blende structure. The “triangular defect” characterized by its isosceles shape is associated with stacking fault (SF) on the (0 0 0 1)4H plane. Based on TEM contrast analysis, stacking faults on {1 1 1} planes introduced in a 3C-SiC “comet” fault and the formation mechanism of “triangular defect” are discussed.