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The tunable electronic structure of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) has attracted much attention due to the great potential in nanoscale electronic applications. Most methods to produce GNRs rely on the lithographic process, which suffers from the process-induced disorder in the graphene and scalability issues. Here, we demonstrate a novel approach to directly grow free-standing GNRs on step-bunched facets of off-oriented 4H-SiC epilayers without any patterning or lithography. First, the 4H-SiC epilayers with well-defined bunched steps were intentionally grown on 4 degree off-axis 4H-SiC substrates by the sublimation epitaxy technique. As a result, periodic step facets in-between SiC terraces were obtained. Then, graphene layers were grown on such step-structured 4H-SiC epilayers by thermal decomposition of SiC. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) studies reveal that the inclined step facets are about 13–15 nm high and 30–35 nm wide, which gives an incline angle of 23–25 degrees. LEEM and LEED results showed that the terraces are mainly covered by monolayer graphene and the buffer layer underneath it. STM images and the analysis of their Fourier transform patterns suggest that on the facets, in-between terraces, graphene is strongly buckled and appears to be largely decoupled from the surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a comparative study of the C-face and Si-face of 3C-SiC(111) grown on off-oriented 4H-SiC substrates by the sublimation epitaxy. By the lateral enlargement method, we demonstrate that the high-quality bulk-like C-face 3C-SiC with thickness of ~1 mm can be grown over a large single domain without double positioning boundaries (DPBs), which are known to have a strongly negative impact on the electronic properties of the material. Moreover, the C-face sample exhibits a smoother surface with one unit cell height steps while the surface of the Si-face sample exhibits steps twice as high as on the C-face due to step-bunching. High-resolution XRD and low temperature photoluminescence measurements show that C-face 3C-SiC can reach the same high crystalline quality as the Si-face 3C-SiC. Furthermore, cross-section studies of the C- and Si-face 3C-SiC demonstrate that in both cases an initial homoepitaxial 4H-SiC layer followed by a polytype transition layer are formed prior to the formation and lateral expansion of 3C-SiC layer. However, the transition layer in the C-face sample is extending along the step-flow direction less than that on the Si-face sample, giving rise to a more fairly consistent crystalline quality 3C-SiC epilayer over the whole sample compared to the Si-face 3C-SiC where more defects appeared on the surface at the edge. This facilitates the lateral enlargement of 3C-SiC growth on hexagonal SiC substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]