Low-energy-electron-diffraction and x-ray-phototelectron-spectroscopy studies of graphitization of 3C-SiC(111) thin film on Si(111) substrate

Epitaxial graphene can be formed on silicon substrates by annealing a 3C-SiC film formed on a silicon substrate in ultrahigh vacuum (G/3C-SiC/ Si). In this work, we explore the graphitization process on the 3C-SiC(111)/Si(111) surface by using low-energy electron diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and compare them with that on 6H-SiC(0001). Upon annealing at T ≥ 1150 °C, the 3C-SiC(111)/Si(111) surface follows the sequence of (3√×3 )R30° ,(63√×63√× )R30° and (1×1) graphene in the surface structures. The C 1s core level according to XPS indicates that a buffer layer, identical with that in G/6H-SiC(0001), exists at the G/3C-SiC(111) buffer. These observations strongly suggest that graphitization on the surface of the 3C-SiC(111) face proceeds in a similar manner to that on the Si-terminated hexagonal bulk SiC crystals.