A possible mechanism for hexagonal void movement observed during sublimation growth of SiC single crystals

A possible mechanism of hexagonal void movement during Physical vapor transport (PVT)-growth is proposed in terms of quasi-equilibrium phase transition process based upon the Si-C binary phase diagram. The hexagonal void movement can be realized when two different reactions occurs simultaneously: (1) SiC(s) solidification and (2) decomposition without graphitization. Further, the kinetic instability of the void movement observed is also discussed, and found to be explainable if the effect of the temperature gradient existing in the crystal grown in conventional PVT-process is included.