Atomic Level Control in Crystal Growth Utilizing Reconstruction of the Surface Superstructure

A novel mechanism of atomic level control in crystal growth utilizing reconstruction of surface superstructures is proposed. We have found a distinguished feature of surface reconstruction during crystal growth of 3C-SiC using an alternate gas molecular beam supply of Si2H6 and C2H2. When Si2H6 is supplied, S atoms generated by thermal decomposition adsorb on the surface constructing superstructures. A fixed number of Si atoms forming surface superstructures can react with C2H2 yielding single crystalline 3C-SiC growth in the subsequent period, which realizes atomic level control in epitaxy of 3C-SiC. The reconstruction sequence is analyzed based on RHEED observations, and the obtained crystal quality is discussed.