Smoothness improvement of micrometer- and submicrometer-thick nanocrystalline diamond films produced by MWPECVD

• Published in: Journal of nanoparticle research : an interdisciplinary forum for nanoscale science and technology Vol. 15; no. 4; p. 1
• Main Authors: Cicala, G., Magaletti, V., Senesi, G. S., Tamborra, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.04.2013; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Equations of state, phase equilibria, and phase transitions; Exact sciences and technology; Fullerenes and related materials; General studies of phase transitions; Inorganic Chemistry; Lasers; Low-dimensional structures (superlattices, quantum well structures, multilayers): structure, and nonelectronic properties; Materials Science; Nanoparticles; Nanostructured Materials 2012. Special Issue Editors: Juan Manuel Rojo; Nanotechnology; Nucleation; Optical Devices; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Optics; Photonics; Physical Chemistry; Physics; Research Paper; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Vasileios Koutsos; Visible and ultraviolet spectra; Buffer layer; Nucleation; Nanostructures; Nanocrystalline diamond; Plasma CVD; Methane; Synthetic diamond; Thick films; Deposition rate; Real time; Thin films; Reflectivity; Nanometer scale; Experimental result; Reflection spectrum; PECVD; Microwave discharge; Interferometry
• ISSN: 1388-0764; 1572-896X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11051-013-1549-x

Thick (around 3 μm) and thin (48–310 nm) nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) films have been produced from Ar-rich CH 4 /Ar/H 2 (1/89/10 %) and H 2 -rich CH 4 /H 2 (1/99 %) microwave plasmas, respectively. The deposition rate and the nucleation enhancement have been monitored in situ and in real time by pyrometric and laser reflectance interferometry for micrometer- and nanometer-thick films. For thick films, an improvement of the NCD films’ smoothness has been obtained by a buffer layer between the films and the treated Si substrate. For thin films, a combinatorial approach, i.e., a treatment of the Si substrate in a suspension of mixed diamond powders of 250 nm and 40–60 μm, has been utilized. The present experimental results show that the buffer layer procedure allows good preservation of the surface of the treated Si substrate and the combinatorial approach promotes effectively the seeding of the Si surface.