Inclined TEDs with pairs of partial dislocations located away from the basal plane in 4H-SiC epilayers

We discovered previously unreported defects in the 4H-SiC epilayers that do not lie along the [0001] direction or on the ( 11 2 ¯ 0 ) plane. Each defect consists of a pair of partial dislocations separated by a stacking fault rather than forming a perfect dislocation. Because they have inclination angles of 52° and 65° from the [0001] direction toward the [ 11 2 ¯ 0 ] direction, we refer to them as “pseudo- threading edge dislocations (TEDs).” The spacing between partial dislocations in the pseudo-TEDs also increases, reaching up to 12 nm at an inclination angle of 90° Based on the observed crystallographic orientation, the pseudo-TEDs appear to stabilize along the ( 11 2 ¯ ( 2 n ) ) planes. Furthermore, comparison of the elastic strain energy between TEDs in the form of perfect dislocations and the total energy of basal plane dislocations suggests that as the inclination angle increases, the pseudo-TED structure becomes more favorable compared with a perfect dislocation.