Rapid Growth of High-Purity 3C-SiC Crystals Using a SiC-Saturated Si–Pr–C Solution

Abstract

This study added Pr to a Si–C solution to enhance C solubility below 2000 K for rapidly growing high-purity 3C-SiC crystals. The C solubility in the Si–Pr–C solution increased significantly when the Pr content in the raw Si–Pr alloy increased from 25 to 46 at % at 1823–1923 K. However, SiC was only stable in the Si–Pr–C solution when the Pr content was 25–37 at % at 1823 K and 25–35 at % at 1923 K. The average C solubility in the Si–Pr–C solution at 1823 and 1923 K increased from 0.49 to 8.29 at % and 0.65 to 13.5 at %, respectively, when the Pr content in the raw Si–Pr alloy increased from 25 to 37 at % and 25 to 35 at %, respectively. The raw Si–(35 at %)Pr alloy exhibited superior precipitation of SiC crystals compared to the raw Si–(35 at %)Cr, Si–(35 at %)Fe, and Si–(35 at %)Ti alloys. The purity of the obtained 3C-SiC crystals was >99.995%, and the contamination of Pr was negligible.