Photoluminescence and Raman Spectroscopy of Cubic SiC Grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition on Si Substrates

Abstract
Thin films of cubic SiC were grown on Si substrates by a new CVD heteroepitaxial technique. The cubic polytype and crystal quality were verified by room temperature Raman spectroscopy. Low temperature photoluminescence (PL) studies detected nitrogen donor bound excitons, N-Al donor-acceptor pairs in Al-doped samples, and some defect complexes usually observed only in irradiated samples. Evidence of strain due to the Si-SiC lattice mismatch was observed in both the Raman and PL spectra and the effects of substrate removal and high temperature annealing on these optical spectra were studied.