Stacking fault analysis of epitaxial 3C-SiC on Si(001) ridges

The stacking faults (SFs) in 3C-SiC epitaxially grown on ridges deeply etched into Si(001) substrates offcut towards [110] were quantitatively analyzed by electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. A significant reduction of SF density with respect to planar material was observed for the {111} planes parallel to the ridges. The highest SF density was found in the (-1-11) plane. A previously observed defect was identified as twins by electron backscatter diffraction.