The results support a mechanism of an initial coherent precipitation based on substitutional C that is likewise valid for the IBS of 3C-SiC by C implantation into Si at elevated temperatures.
The fact that the metastable cubic phase instead of the thermodynamically more favorable hexagonal $\alpha$-SiC structure is formed and the alignment of these cubic precipitates within the Si matrix, which can be explained straightforward by considering a topotactic transformation by C atoms occupying substitutionally Si lattice sites of one of the two fcc lattices that make up the Si crystal, reinforce the proposed mechanism.
The results support a mechanism of an initial coherent precipitation based on substitutional C that is likewise valid for the IBS of 3C-SiC by C implantation into Si at elevated temperatures.
The fact that the metastable cubic phase instead of the thermodynamically more favorable hexagonal $\alpha$-SiC structure is formed and the alignment of these cubic precipitates within the Si matrix, which can be explained straightforward by considering a topotactic transformation by C atoms occupying substitutionally Si lattice sites of one of the two fcc lattices that make up the Si crystal, reinforce the proposed mechanism.