Effects of Substrate Bias on the Nucleation of Diamond Films Studied by Atomic Force Microscopy

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe nucleation stage of diamond on silicon substrates was studied by atomic force microscopy. Samples were grown by hot filament chemical vapor deposition and substrate biases from -200 ν to +75 ν were investigated. The effects of the process on the substrate as well as on the morphology of the crystallites were observed using an atomic force microscope operating in tapping mode. It was observed that both the density and morphology of the diamond crystallites were greatly dependent on the applied bias values. The highest nucleation density was achieved for the -200 ν bias, when a plasma around the substrate holder was formed.