Comparison of silicon, nickel, and nickel silicide (Ni3Si) as substrates for epitaxial diamond growth

We carried out experimental and theoretical studies aimed at probing interface interactions of diamond with Si, Ni, and Ni3Si substrates. Oriented diamond films deposited on (100) silicon were characterized by polar Raman, polar XRD, and cross-sectional HRTEM. These studies show that the diamond-(100)/Si(100) interface does not adopt the 45°-rotation but the 3 : 2-match arrangement. Our extended Hückel tight-binding (EHTB) electronic structure calculations for a model system show that the interface interaction favors the 3 : 2-match arrangement. Growth on polycrystalline Ni3Si resulted in oriented diamond particles while, under the same growth conditions, largely graphite was formed on the nickel substrate. Our EHTB electronic structure calculations for model systems show that the (111) and (100) surfaces of Ni3Si have a strong preference for diamond-nucleation over graphite-nucleation, but this is not the case for the (111) and (100) surfaces of Ni. © 1995.

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Author Brian R. Stoner Pierre R. Lamond Department of Electrical and Computer Engin ...

Author Jeffrey Glass Pierre R. Lamond Department of Electrical and Computer Engin ...