3C-SiC Heteroepitaxial Growth on Silicon: The Quest for Holy Grail

For a long time now, 3C-SiC has attracted attention of the semiconductor community due to its very interesting properties. The lack of commercial 3C-SiC seeds for epitaxy has forced researchers to prospect for different host materials in order to grow heteroepitaxial thin layers. Because of the obvious economical and technical advantages, silicon is a very attractive substrate so that more than 90% of the thin 3C-SiC heteroepitaxial films are grown on such seed. However, the obstacles to overcome, mainly lattice and thermal mismatch, are challenging. This article reviews the numerous attempts for growing high quality 3C-SiC heteroepitaxial layers on silicon substrate. The various aspects of the heteroepitaxial growth, from substrate carbonization to epitaxy, are discussed as a function of growth parameters. The difficulties encountered and the proposed solutions are described. Perspectives of this heteroepitaxial system are proposed.