Cubic silicon carbide surface reconstructions and Si (C) nanostructures at the atomic scale

In this review article, I present an overview of the latest investigations of atomic scale ordering and properties of cubic silicon carbide surfaces and self-organized nanostructures. These studies are based on room and high temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation and ab initio theoretical local density functional (LDF) calculations. I focus on the Si-terminated and C-terminated β-SiC(100) surfaces only. The ordering of the Si-terminated c(4×2) and the C-terminated c(2×2) surface reconstructions is driven by surface stress which, surprisingly, extends far below the surface. Important issues, such as (i) the atomic control and structure of the c(4×2) and c(2×2) surfaces, (ii) the role of stress in surface and sub-surface organization, (iii) the role of defects and antiphase boundaries, (iv) the existence of a reversible semiconducting c(4×2) to metallic 2×1 phase transition with non-Fermi liquid behavior, (v) the self-formation on the Si terminated surfaces of Si atomic lines and dimer vacancy chains having unprecedented characteristics (massively parallel organization, longest atomic lines ever built on a surface ≈1 μm, highest thermal stability for an atomic line >900 °C), (vi) the high temperature dynamics of these nanostructures and dismantling mechanisms, and (vii) the sp–sp3 diamond-type surface transformation at high temperature are described and discussed. Overall, SiC surfaces and nanostructures are model systems which are especially suitable for nanophysics and nanotechnologies.