Surface morphology and defect structures in microwave cvd diamond films

Polycrystalline diamond films were deposited by the microwave-plasma chemical-vapor-deposition (CVD) on Si substrates using a mixture of methane and hydrogen for the source gas. In the morphology study of diamond films using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), it was found that upon increasing the methane concentration (hereafter denoted by c in units of vol%), the surface texture changed discontinuously from (111) to (100) at around c=0.4%, and gradually from (100) to microcrystalline above c=1.2%. The diamond-Si interfaces and the defect structures in the films were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The film growth process was investigated by SEM, and it was found that the appearance of small grains and the formation of well-defined diamond faces took place repeatedly with time during the CVD synthesis. The film morphology of boron-doped diamond films on Si substrates and on non-doped diamond films were also presented. © 1989, SPIE.

Duke Scholars

Author Jeffrey Glass Electrical and Computer Engineering