Cyclic technique for the enhancement of highly oriented diamond film growth

Abstract

Diamond films have been deposited on (100) Si substrates through carburization, nucleation and growth steps using a microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition system. The surface morphologies of the films were investigated as a function of the carburization time. It is likely that the ball-like agglomerates observed on the carburized surface act as nucleation sites for diamond. We also found that the density of agglomerates is not dependent on the carburization time, but their size increases with increasing carburization time. A cyclic process was applied during either the nucleation or the growth step. In general, the cyclic process leads to a decrease in the density of large agglomerates produced during the carburization step. Furthermore, the {100}-oriented texture growth is enhanced and the coverage area is increased by applying the cyclic process during nucleation.