Surface composition, bonding, and morphology in the nucleation and growth of ultra-thin, high quality nanocrystalline diamond films

The morphology, composition, and bonding character (carbon hybridization state) of continuous, ultra-thin (thickness ∼ 60 nm) nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) membranes are reported. NCD films were deposited on a silicon substrate that was pretreated using an optimized, two-step seeding process. The su...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Diamond and related materials 2007-04, Vol.16 (4), p.718-724
Main Authors: Sumant, Anirudha V., Gilbert, P.U.P.A., Grierson, David S., Konicek, Andrew R., Abrecht, Mike, Butler, James E., Feygelson, Tatyana, Rotter, Shlomo S., Carpick, Robert W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AFM
Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science
rheology
Exact sciences and technology
Fullerenes and related materials
diamonds, graphite
Materials science
Methods of deposition of films and coatings
film growth and epitaxy
Nanocrystalline diamond
Nucleation
Physics
Specific materials
Theory and models of film growth
XANES
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Summary:The morphology, composition, and bonding character (carbon hybridization state) of continuous, ultra-thin (thickness ∼ 60 nm) nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) membranes are reported. NCD films were deposited on a silicon substrate that was pretreated using an optimized, two-step seeding process. The surface after each of the two steps, the as-grown NCD topside and the NCD underside (revealed by etching away the silicon substrate) is examined by X-ray PhotoElectron Emission spectroMicroscopy (X-PEEM) combined with X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The first step in the seeding process, a short exposure to a hydrocarbon plasma, induces the formation of SiC at the diamond/Si interface along with a thin, uniform layer of hydrogenated, amorphous carbon on top. This amorphous carbon layer allows for a uniform, dense layer of nanodiamond seed particles to be spread over the substrate in the second step. This facilitates the growth of a homogeneous, continuous, smooth, and highly sp 3-bonded NCD film. We show for the first time that the underside of this film possesses atomic-scale smoothness (RMS roughness: 0.3 nm) and > 98% diamond content, demonstrating the effectiveness of the two-step seeding method for diamond film nucleation.
ISSN:0925-9635
1879-0062
DOI:10.1016/j.diamond.2006.12.011