Epitaxy of nanocrystalline silicon carbide on Si(111) at room temperature.
Silicon carbide (SiC) has unique chemical, physical, and mechanical properties. A factor strongly limiting SiC-based technologies is the high-temperature synthesis. In this work, we provide unprecedented experimental and theoretical evidence of 3C-SiC epitaxy on silicon at room temperature by using a buckminsterfullerene (C(60)) supersonic beam. Chemical processes, such as C(60) rupture, are activated at a precursor kinetic energy of 30-35 eV, far from thermodynamic equilibrium. This result paves the way for SiC synthesis on polymers or plastics that cannot withstand high temperatures.
Istituto dei Materiali per l'Elettronica ed il Magnetismo, IMEM-CNR, Sezione FBK di Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy. roberto.verucchi@cnr.it
Roberto
R
Verucchi
Lucrezia
L
Aversa
Marco V
MV
Nardi
Simone
S
Taioli
Silvio
S
a Beccara
Dario
D
Alfè
Lucia
L
Nasi
Francesca
F
Rossi
Giancarlo
G
Salviati
Salvatore
S
Iannotta
D017554:Carbon Compounds, Inorganic / Q000737:chemistry*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D011789:Quantum Theory; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*; D017655:Silicon Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature
D017554:Carbon Compounds, Inorganic; D017655:Silicon Compounds; C022088:silicon carbide; D012825:Silicon