Interactions between gliding dislocations in 3C-SiC(001)

3C-SiC has been identified as a leading semiconducting material for use in high voltage, high temperature, and high frequency devices. However, stacking faults form as a result of the 19.7% lattice mismatch at the 3CSiC/ Si interface, and then propagate during epitaxial growth along four equivalent planes. After epitaxial growth has concluded, the presence of the stacking faults causes an intrinsic stress in the system that allows for the carbon-core partial dislocations to deviate in specific directions from their current plane, thus producing crowd lines of point defects as a result of forest dislocation formations, which are believed to be the main cause of high leakage current density in 3C-SiC. Monte Carlo simulations are employed to model the formation, propagation, and expansion of stacking faults, as well as the generation of the forest dislocations. The numerical analysis allows for a clear picture of the density of the forest dislocations throughout the system as a function of the stacking fault density and material thickness. In addition, the study predicts the orientations along which the forest dislocations will most likely form. Further analysis of the mechanisms by which forest dislocations form and the leakage current occurs will lead to more sophisticated fabrication processes of 3C-SiC.