Single-crystalline B[subscript]12As[subscript]2 on m-plane (1(1)over-bar00) 15R-SiC

Abstract

Single crystal, heteroepitaxial growth of icosahedral B[subscript]12As[subscript]2 (IBA, a boride semiconductor) on m-plane 15R-SiC is demonstrated. Previous studies of IBA on other substrates, i.e., 111 Si and 0001 6H-SiC, produced polycrystalline and twinned epilayers. In contrast, single-crystalline and untwinned IBA was achieved on m-plane 15R-SiC. Synchrotron white beam x-ray topography, Raman spectroscopy, and high resolution transmission electron microscopy confirm the high quality of the films. High quality growth is shown to be mediated by ordered nucleation of IBA on 474 substrate facets. This work demonstrates that m-plane 15R-SiC is a good substrate choice to grow high-quality untwinned IBA epilayers for future device applications.