Crystal morphology and phase purity of diamond crystallites during bias enhanced nucleation and initial growth stages

Abstract

The crystal morphologies and phase composition of diamond crystallites during bias enhanced nucleation and initial growth stages in microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition were investigated. Diamond nuclei were first formed in the central regions of substrates and then propagated to the sample edges. During the course of bias nucleation, excessive ion bombardment induced secondary nucleation sites on the already formed nuclei. The secondary nucleation deteriorated the overall alignment of the growing crystals. Hence, the elimination of secondary nucleation and homogeneous nucleation over substrates are fundamental requirements for the deposition of large-area uniformly oriented diamond films. Decreasing reactant pressure was found to be effective for improving plasma homogeneity and consequently nucleation uniformity. The results of bias enhanced nucleation within a pressure range from 8 to 20 Torr showed that the lower pressure of reactants enlarged the area of oriented diamond films. However, the optimum bias and duration of nucleation was found to be specific for each pressure.