Conversion Mechanism of Threading Screw Dislocation during SiC Solution Growth

Solution growth is considered to be a powerful method for high quality SiC crystals. This work reports that the conversion process from a threading screw dislocation into a few Frank partial dislocations in basal planes was investigated by synchrotron X-ray topography. This process was effectively assisted by step-flow growth on off-oriented (0001) seed crystals. The Frank partials were not extended into the crystal grown toward the [0001] direction perpendicular to the basal plane. Thus, the conclusion of this study suggests the use of off-oriented seed crystal is important to improve crystal quality.