Growth of patterned SiC by ion modification and annealing of C60 films on silicon

Silicon carbide films on silicon have been grown by annealing of pre-deposited C60 film on silicon at T = 900°C for 300 min. C60 molecules are confined on the surface during annealing by a non-volatile carbon layer produced by irradiation of the C60 film with an ion gun (Ar+ or Ga+). During annealing the C60 film confined in the irradiated areas forms SiC while the remaining C60 evaporates off. These results introduce a new method of direct patterning SiC structures on Si with submicron resolution.