Scanning-tunneling-microscopy of the formation of carbon nanocaps on SiC(0 0 0 −1)

Wide-range temperature dependence of epitaxial graphene growth on 4H-SiC (000−1): A study of ridge structures formation dynamics associated with temperature

“…In this low temperature range, however, the SiC decomposition process seems to proceed inhomogeneously at a relatively slow graphitization rate, reflecting rougher morphology at 1400 1C. It suggests that amorphous carbon particles or nanosized graphite fragments are formed during the initial stage of surface graphitization at C-face of hexagonal SiC [11,12].…”

Band alignment of a carbon nanotube/n-type 6H-SiC heterojunction formed by surface decomposition of SiC using photoelectron spectroscopy

“…Using this method, aligned zigzag-type double-or triple-walled CNTs with fairly uniform tube diameters can be selectively produced normal to the SiC surface simply by heating SiC substrates at sufficiently high temperature (!1300 C) under vacuum. [11][12][13][14][15] In addition, because this method does not use any catalysts, the CNT walls form directly from the constituent atoms in the SiC substrate without any interlayers. 16 Therefore, at present, surface decomposition of SiC is the only method to form an "intrinsic" CNT/semiconductor heterojunction similar to those realized in conventional semiconductor heterojunction systems.…”

“…The lower binding energy peak [282.83 eV] corresponds to the C-Si bonds in SiC, while the one at higher energy [284.56 eV] is derived from sp 2 C-C bonds, corresponding to CNTs formed on SiC. 13 The FWHM of the C 1s peak for the C-C bonds was 0.75 eV, which was significantly larger than that for the $300 nm thick CNT sample [0.48 eV]. Previous studies have shown that the tips of CNTs are closed with cap-like structures composed of hemispherical graphene sheets.…”

“…Previous studies have shown that the tips of CNTs are closed with cap-like structures composed of hemispherical graphene sheets. 12,13 The contribution of these hemispherical graphene sheets should be larger in the C 1s spectrum for the CNTs with a thickness of $3 nm than that for CNTs that are $300 nm thick. This means that a large number of distorted C-C bonds, including five-membered rings, were present in $3 nm thick sample.…”

Oxygen Influence on the Growth of Thin Hf Films on the 6H‐SiC(0001) Surfaces

“…It is well known that annealing an SiC sample at temperatures above 1150 °C under UHV causes not only desorption of carbon oxides and hydrocarbons from the surface (compare the O 1s and C 1s spectra for the as‐loaded and annealed samples shown in Fig. 3) but also leads to the substrate decomposition and formation of the carbon nanomesh buffer layer13 or graphite on the SiC surface,14–15 which upon further heating is subsequently transformed into carbon nanotubes16 or can result in graphene overlayer formation 17–18. However, in our case the graphite‐like carbon is already present on the substrate surface of virgin samples, without any additional heating procedure applied.…”