A pretreatment process for enhanced diamond nucleation on smooth silicon substrates coated with hard carbon films

Journal Article · Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1994 · Journal of Materials Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.1994.2148· OSTI ID:7071201

Feng, Z; Komvopoulos, K ^[1]; Brown, I G ^[2]; Bogy, D B ^[1]

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1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)
2. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)

Diamond nucleation on unscratched silicon substrates coated with thin films of hard carbon was investigated experimentally with a microwave plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition system. A new pretreatment process was used to enhance the nucleation of diamond. Relatively high diamond nucleation densities of [similar to]10[sup 8] cm[sup [minus]2] were achieved by pretreating the carbon-coated silicon substrates with a methane-rich hydrogen plasma at a relatively low temperature for an hour. Scanning electron microscopy and laser Raman spectroscopy studies revealed that diamond nucleation occurred from nanometer-sized spherical particles of amorphous carbon produced during the pretreatment. The nanoparticles possessed a structure different from that of the original hard carbon film, with a broad non-diamond Raman peak centered at [similar to]1500 cm[sup [minus]1], and a high etching resistance in pure hydrogen plasma. The high diamond nucleation density is attributed to the significant percentage of tetrahedrally bonded ([ital sp][sup 3]) atomic carbon configurations in the nanoparticles and the presence of sufficient high-surface free-energy sites on the pretreated surfaces.

• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00098
• OSTI ID: 7071201
• Journal Information: Journal of Materials Research; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Materials Research; (United States) Vol. 9:8; ISSN JMREEE; ISSN 0884-2914
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360601* -- Other Materials-- Preparation & Manufacture
CARBON
CHEMICAL COATING
CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
COATINGS
DEPOSITION
DIAMONDS
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ELEMENTAL MINERALS
ELEMENTS
FILMS
LASER SPECTROSCOPY
MICROSCOPY
MINERALS
NONMETALS
NUCLEATION
RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
SEMIMETALS
SILICON
SPECTROSCOPY
SUBSTRATES
SURFACE COATING
THIN FILMS