Epitaxial growth of zinc oxide by the method of atomic layer deposition on SiC/Si substrates

For the first time, zinc oxide epitaxial films on silicon were grown by the method of atomic layer deposition at a temperature $T$ = 250$^\circ$C. In order to avoid a chemical reaction between silicon and zinc oxide (at the growth temperature, the rate constant of the reaction is of the order of 10$^{22}$), a high-quality silicon carbide buffer layer with a thickness of $\sim$50 nm was preliminarily synthesized by the chemical substitution of atoms on the silicon surface. The zinc oxide films were grown on $n$- and $p$-type Si(100) wafers. The ellipsometric, Raman, electron diffraction, and trace element analyses showed that the ZnO films are epitaxial.