Oxygen-induced reduction of the graphitization temperature of SiC surface

Abstract

In the solid-vapor phase equilibria between SiC and O2 system, there exists a region where the reaction 2〈× SiC 〈 O2 ← (2 〈 ×)Si" ↑〈 2CO↑ 〈" ×C↓ takes place [Y. W. Song and F. W. Smith: J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 88 (2005) 1864]. By tuning the temperature and the oxygen pressure used in the graphitization annealing into this region, we have succeeded in the growth of epitaxial graphene on SiC crystals at 1000 °C, which is lower, by 250 °C or more, than the conventional epitaxial graphene method. The method is especially useful to formation of epitaxial graphene on silicon (GOS), which requires a lower graphitization temperature because of the Si substrate as well as of its mission to attain compatibility with Si technology. © 2011 The Japan Society of Applied Physics.