C6H6 was chemisorbed on the (111) plane, but physiosorbed on the (110) plane, while CH3 was chemisorbed strongly on both planes. These calculation results indicate that the difference in reactivity of the carbon precursor towards the various planes is the reason for the different growth orientations. At T > 1250 ℃, the transition to highly <110>-oriented growth in both processes can be explained by the fact that 3C-SiC would tend to grow along the direction leading to the lowest surface energy, i.e. (110) plane in 3C-SiC. The steering effect of toluene is no longer present at elevated temperatures due to its expected decomposition into smaller, non-aromatic hydrocarbons.