The Atomic Structure of Silicon Carbide

SiC crystals are known to have three possible arrangements of atoms. These arrangements are called polytypes. Each polytype has the same chemical composition but differs in their stacking sequence. The layers can stack in different orientations and can also undergo lateral translations and rotations. This allows for a wide range of possible stacking sequences. Each of these sequences can produce a distinct polytype of silicon carbide.

Fourfold coordination structures

A crystal structure of silicon carbide is composed of fourfold coordination structures. These structures are joined by two carbon atoms and are short-range. The distance between the farthermost silicon atoms is approximately 1.85 a. The number of these structures increases as the temperature decreases from 4500 K to 1500 K.

These structures are characterized by good consistency between theory and experiments. For example, the three-dimensional x-ray structure of silicon carbide shows a good agreement with experimental data.

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