The Optical Properties, Energy Band Structure, and Interfacial Conductance of a 3C-SiC(111)/Si(111) Heterostructure Grown by the Method of Atomic Substitution

Epitaxial films of single-crystalline silicon carbide (3C-SiC cubic polytype) with 20- to 120-nm thickness grown on a silicon substrate by the method of atomic substitution have been studied by the spectroscopic ellipsometry technique at 0.5−9.3 eV photon energies. It is established that the dielectric permittivity of a thin intermediate layer formed at the 3C-SiC(111)/Si(111) interface is characteristic of a semimetal. This result was confirmed by quantum-chemical simulation of the properties of 3C-SiC(111)/Si(111) heterointerface, showing that the conductance of this intermediate layer is related to p-electrons of interfacial Si atoms that are most remote from Si atoms of the substrate.