Laser-assisted formation of 3c-SiC and continuous diamond growth using Si–Q carbon on (100) silicon

The formation of 3c-SiC is of interest due to potential applications in the semiconductor industry; however, there are difficulties in obtaining 3c-SiC by conventional methods. Being a metastable phase, non-equilibrium growth conditions are favorable in the growth process. This paper reports the formation of nano-sized 3c-SiC by nanosecond laser annealing of Si–Q-carbon layers on the silicon (100), which is confirmed by its characteristic LO and TO peaks in the Raman spectra. We also show that the traditional HFCVD technique results in the 6H-polytype instead, as confirmed by SEM, Raman spectroscopy, and EBSD. Further, we investigate the role of these phases on the nucleation of heteroepitaxial diamond on a Si (100) substrate. We show that these phases as interlayers enhance the diamond growth significantly. The HRSTEM studies were performed to understand the interfacial structure and phase responsible for high diamond nucleation. These findings are significant for 3c-SiC and diamond electronics applications. Graphical abstract