## 3 Results
This effect is most clearly visible in the HRTEM images taken from the samples synthesized for 90 min (Figures 9a,b and S7a,b). Figure 5: (**a**) The GDOES study of C3 and O3 samples: the mass concentration of Si is drawn by blue traces, while those of C and O are drawn by black and red traces, respectively. (**b**) The GDOES study of C90 and O90 samples: the mass concentration of Si is drawn by blue traces, while those of C, O, and N are drawn by black, red, and violet traces, respectively. Figure 6: TEM images obtained from C3 samples: (**a**) A low magnification TEM image and the corresponding SAED image (**b**); HRTEM images (**c**,**d**) of different areas of panel (**a**). Another important observation is that both SAED and HRTEM images of thin films synthesized on substrates with a properly removed native oxide can be indexed in ordered phase 36H-SiC only [25]. All interplanar distances in the HRTEM images (Figures 6c,d, 8b, 9c and S6b) were also determined, and we found that they correspond to the indicated polytype of SiC, namely 36H-SiC [25]. The analysis of the SAED and HRTEM images taken from samples from which the native oxide was not properly removed (Figures 7b and S6b) showed the presence of ordered phases based on SiO\({}_{2}\)--both crystalline SiO\({}_{2}\)[33] and the complex compound Si(OCOCH\({}_{3}\))\({}_{4}\)[34]. Figure 7: TEM images obtained from sample O5: a low magnification TEM and the corresponding SAED images (panels (**a**,**b**)) and HRTEM image indicating the presence of different phases in the studied sample (panel (**c**)). Figure 8: TEM images obtained from sample C60: a low magnification TEM and the corresponding SAED images (see inset) (panel (**a**)) and HRTEM image indicating the presence of a single SiC phase (panel (**b**)). Figure 9: TEM images obtained from sample C90: an overview image of a micro-sized sample particle; a large part of the surrounding space (panel (**a**)), the corresponding SAED (panel (**b**)) images; and HRTEM images showing well-structured SiC nanocrystals (panel (**c**)). The analysis of the synthesized thin films with TEM also shows certain trends:  
1. The crystallite size in the thin films synthesized for 60 and 90 min is much larger than in the other samples. 2. In the thin films synthesized for 90 min, there are a lot of areas in which a two-dimensional network of crystal planes is clearly distinguished, which indicates an enhanced crystalline ordering (Figures 9c and S7b). It is well known that the different polytypes of SiC have a clearly expressed and well-studied single-phonon Raman spectrum (100-1000) cm\({}^{-1}\)[35]. Its overtones and combination bands also give a very pronounced spectrum in the interval (1300-1900) cm\({}^{-1}\). The Raman spectrum of graphite, single- and multi-layer graphene, diamond-like phases, and amorphous carbon in its various modifications (amorphous carbon (aC), tetrahedral carbon (taC), etc.) also have a well-studied Raman spectrum, which can be used to identify these phases [36,37]. Therefore, all synthesized thin films were thoroughly studied via Raman spectroscopy. Figure S8 shows typical Raman spectra observed from the Si(111) substrate and a thin film from sample C90. As can be seen, the most prominent peaks of the two spectra coincide completely in terms of frequency/wavenumber, while their intensities are also approximately the same. The two spectra completely coincide in the region of the one-phonon spectrum of SiC (150-1000) cm\({}^{-1}\) (Figure S8). The spectra of sample C90 do not differ from those of silicon in the region (1000-2100) cm\({}^{-1}\). However, to identify any differences between the two spectra, we subtracted from the measured spectrum of C90 (red trace in Figure S8) that of Si(111) (black trace in Figure S8). No peaks can be distinguished in the resulting spectrum (inset of Figure S8). These results unambiguously confirm the absence of ordered phases of SiC or ordered or disordered carbon on the surface of the thin films or in their vicinity.