Structural study of diamond film formed on silicon wafer by hot-filament chemical vapor deposition method

Abstract

Very important evidence has been obtained by high-resolution cross-sectional electron microscopy (HREM) that diamond films prepared by the hot-filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) method were grown epitaxially on the mirror-polished Si(100) substrate in a local area with surface biasing pretreatment. There is about a 7.3° angle between Si (100) and D(100) heteroepitaxial crystalline planes. The same type of twinnings (coherent twin boundaries of type, Σ=3) exist on and near the interface. High preferential oriented diamond films have been observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). From the discussion, the pretreatment of the substrate is a key factor for the heteroepitaxy of diamond on Si wafer.