Nucleation enhancement of diamond with amorphous films

Abstract

The nucleation and growth of diamond on pretreated Si substrates were studied. The diamond films were produced by microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The pretreatment consisted of an amorphous carbon film also deposited by microwave PECVD. The Si was previously scratched with 0.5 μm diamond paste and cleaned in acetone. This pretreatment of Si resulted in diamond nucleation at densities averaging around 3×1010 cm−2, several orders of magnitude higher than scratched Si alone.