Deposition of 4H-SiC On C-plane Sapphire Using C60

We report the growth of heteroepitaxial of 4H-SiC on (0001) sapphire substrate at 1000-1100 degrees C using C-60 and silicon solid sources molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The difference between the use of substrate nitridation and AlN buffer layer is striking. The former resulted in peeling while the latter offered stable films of 4H-SiC when the thickness of AlN exceeded several tens of nm. X-Ray diffraction, atomic force microscope (AFM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and photoluminescence (PL) were employed for the positive identification and characterization of the grown 4H-SiC.