Electron-irradiation-induced crystalline to amorphous transition in β-SiC single crystals and crystallization of irradiation-produced amorphous SiC

The electron-irradiation-induced crystalline-to-amorphous (C-A) transition in β-SiC and the crystallization of the irradiation-produced amorphous SiC upon annealing have been studied by a combination of ultrahigh voltage electron microscopy and high resolution electron microscopy. β-SiC can be rendered amorphous by 2 MeV electron irradiation. The total dose of electrons required for the C-A transition at 170 K is approximately 1.2x1026 m-2. The irradiation-produced amorphous SiC crystallizes into β-SiC at 1233±10 K. Namely, at this temperature, crystallites of β-SiC with random orientation, ranging from a few nm to ten and a few nm in diameter, appear in the amorphous matrix. With increasing annealing temperature, the crystallites make grain growth. In the crystallites a high density of stacking faults have been introduced on the (111) plane. (author)