The direct identification of stacking sequences in silicon carbide polytypes by high-resolution electron microscopy

Lattice imaging with tilted illumination at the 2.5 Å level has been used for the direct determination of stacking sequences in silicon carbide polytypes by observation of electron micrographs. The method employed is first demonstrated by observations of the common short-period polytypes 3C, 4H, 15R and 6H, and is then used to reveal the stacking sequences in the polytypes 9R and 129R, neither of which appear to have been reported previously. Stacking sequences in disordered and faulted materials have also been characterised.