Effects of radiation and temperature on displacement cascades in 4H-SiC: A molecular dynamic study

Four layer hexagonal SiC (4H-SiC) is a promising material for high temperature and high radiation environments, attributed to its excellent thermal conductivity and radiation resistance. However, the mechanism of radiation displacement cascades in 4H-SiC remains incomplete. This study employs molecular dynamics (MD) to explore the effects of radiation energy, direction and environmental temperature on displacement cascades in 4H-SiC. We simulated radiation displacement cascades in 4H-SiC under radiation energy ranging from 2 KeV to 10 KeV and temperature ranging from 0 K to 2100 K. We analyzed the variation pattern of radiation defects and clusters. We derived the empirical formulas describing the variation of defects and clusters with radiation energy and radiation direction. We revealed patterns in the number of radiation defects and clusters under different temperature. The findings enhance our understanding of radiation displacement cascades in 4H-SiC, providing valuable empirical formulas for predicting the behaviors of defects and clusters under varying radiation energy and temperature conditions, and have practical implications for designing materials resilient to radiation in semiconductor devices.