Enhanced carbon solubility in solvent for SiC rapid solution growth: Thermodynamic evaluation of Cr–Ce–Si–C system

The carbon dissolution in solvent plays a key role in the process of solution growth route for SiC single crystal, which could determine the growth rate and quality of the products. However, the carbon dissolving ability of binary alloy solvent still needs to be improved. Here, we demonstrate the improved carbon dissolution and enlarged carbon supersaturation in Cr–Ce–Si ternary solvent, showing great potential for SiC solution growth. The phase relations of Cr–Ce–Si–C system were determined by using CALPHAD method based on thermodynamic parameters of CeCr2Si2C. It is indicated that the Cr–Ce–Si ternary solvent shows much larger carbon solubility in temperature range from 1700 to 2000 °C compared to Cr–Si binary one. Furthermore, the carbon supersaturation in solvent is also significantly increased in low temperature range after the addition of Ce, leading to a rapid growth rate. Our work not only demonstrates the feasibility of adding Ce in the alloy solvent for rapid growth of SiC crystal, but also provides an example for investigating the C solubility in ternary solvent.