Stacking faults and 3C quantum wells in hexagonal SiC polytypes

The electronic driving force for growth of stacking faults (SF) in n-type 4H SiC under annealing and in operating devices is discussed. This involves two separate aspects: an overall thermodynamic driving force due to the capture of electrons in interface states and the barriers that need to be overcome to create dislocation kinks which advance the motion of partial dislocations and hence expansion of SF. The second problem studied in this paper is whether 3C SiC quantum wells in 4H SiC can have band gaps lower than 3C SiC. First-principles band structure calculations show that this is not the case due to the intrinsic screening of the spontaneous polarization fields.