Oriented growth of silicide and carbon in SiC-based sandwich structures with nickel

We report on the formation kinetics and the metal-mediated structuring in nanoregions of silicide and carbon containing interlayers in SiC-based materials. The silicide formation and the graphite texturisation are determined by complex reactive diffusion processes. High resolution and analytical electron microscopy evidenced a δ-Ni2Si growth with a 〈5 0 6〉 fibre texture in parallel orientation to the 〈0 0 0 1〉 direction of the SiC substrate. The oriented growth of graphitic regions in the silicide hints to a diffusion controlled carbon precipitation from the silicide supersaturated with carbon, explaining the observed orientation relationships between graphite and silicon carbide: perpendicular and parallel to the {0 0 0 1} silicon carbide surfaces.