Investigation of the hydrogen etching effect of the SiC surface on the formation of graphene films

We have studied the effect of temperature and etching duration of the 4$H$-SiC (0001) surface in hydrogen on the structural perfection of graphene films grown by thermal destruction. Several technological modes have been identified that enable etching of the substrate without changing the stoichiometric composition of the surface. It has been demonstrated that pregrowth etching in hydrogen at $T$ = 1600$^\circ$C with a duration of 1 min makes it possible to obtain a more uniform and structurally perfect graphene than etching at $T$ = 1300$^\circ$C with a 30 min duration.