Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
We have performed intensive theoretical studies on the ordered Si 4C phase which has been proposed first by Riicker et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett.72, 3578 (1994)] and which recently has been reportedly synthesized by Kouvetakis et al. [Appl. Phys. Lett.72, 930(1998). We calculate structural parameters which are significantly different from experimental values, and an IR spectrum with a peak position very similar to their experiment but a much narrower width. We suggest that the experimental findings might be consistent with the assumption of a system of Si4C sections/crystallites and other Si–C structures embedded in a Si matrix.