The optical properties, energy band structure, and interfacial conductance of a 3$C$-SiC(111)/Si(111) heterostructure grown by the method of atomic substitution

Epitaxial films of single-crystalline silicon carbide (3$C$-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 3$C$-SiC(111)/Si(111) interface is characteristic of a semimetal. This result was confirmed by quantum-chemical simulation of the properties of 3$C$-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.