Next to surface morphology defects such as pits and islands, the main defects in 3C-SiC heteroepitaxial layers are twins, stacking faults (SF) and antiphase boundaries (APB) \cite{shibahara86,pirouz87}.
APB defects, which constitute the primary residual defects in thick layers, are formed near surface terraces that differ in a single-atom-height step resulting in domains of SiC separated by a boundary, which consists of either Si-Si or C-C bonds due to missing or disturbed sublattice information \cite{desjardins96,kitabatake97}.
However, the number of such defects can be reduced by off-axis growth on a Si \hkl(0 0 1) substrate miscut towards \hkl[1 1 0] by \unit[2]{$^{\circ}$}-\unit[4]{$^{\circ}$} \cite{shibahara86,powell87_2}.
This results in the thermodynamically favored growth of a single phase due to the uni-directional contraction of Si-C-Si bond chains perpendicular to the terrace steps edges during carbonization and the fast growth parallel to the terrace edges during growth under Si rich conditions \cite{kitabatake97}.
By MBE, lower process temperatures than these typically employed in CVD have been realized \cite{hatayama95,henke95,fuyuki97,takaoka98}, which is essential for limiting thermal stresses and to avoid resulting substrate bending, a key issue in obtaining large area 3C-SiC surfaces.
In summary, the almost universal use of Si has allowed significant progress in the understanding of heteroepitaxial growth of SiC on Si.
Next to surface morphology defects such as pits and islands, the main defects in 3C-SiC heteroepitaxial layers are twins, stacking faults (SF) and antiphase boundaries (APB) \cite{shibahara86,pirouz87}.
APB defects, which constitute the primary residual defects in thick layers, are formed near surface terraces that differ in a single-atom-height step resulting in domains of SiC separated by a boundary, which consists of either Si-Si or C-C bonds due to missing or disturbed sublattice information \cite{desjardins96,kitabatake97}.
However, the number of such defects can be reduced by off-axis growth on a Si \hkl(0 0 1) substrate miscut towards \hkl[1 1 0] by \unit[2]{$^{\circ}$}-\unit[4]{$^{\circ}$} \cite{shibahara86,powell87_2}.
This results in the thermodynamically favored growth of a single phase due to the uni-directional contraction of Si-C-Si bond chains perpendicular to the terrace steps edges during carbonization and the fast growth parallel to the terrace edges during growth under Si rich conditions \cite{kitabatake97}.
By MBE, lower process temperatures than these typically employed in CVD have been realized \cite{hatayama95,henke95,fuyuki97,takaoka98}, which is essential for limiting thermal stresses and to avoid resulting substrate bending, a key issue in obtaining large area 3C-SiC surfaces.
In summary, the almost universal use of Si has allowed significant progress in the understanding of heteroepitaxial growth of SiC on Si.