Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T10:25:04.978Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Growth of (100) oriented diamond grains by the application of lateral temperature gradients across silicon substrates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2004

E. Titus*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
D.S. Misra
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay 400076, India
Manoj. K. Singh
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay 400076, India
Pawan. K. Tyagi
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay 400076, India
Abha Misra
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay 400076, India
F. Le Normand
Affiliation:
Groupe Surfaces and Interfaces, IPCMS, UMR7504 CNRS, Strasbourg, France
J. Gracio
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
N. Ali
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Polycrystalline diamond films with a predominant (100) texture were deposited onto silicon substrates using hot-filament chemical vapor deposition. During film deposition, different temperature gradients were created and imposed laterally across the substrate materials. Films grown under a gradient of 100 °C cm−1 displayed large (100) oriented grains. No crystallite (100) orientation was observed in the as-grown films prepared without a temperature gradient. It was observed that the diamond grain size varied as a function of the gradient. The lower gradient resulted in smaller grains and vice versa. Furthermore, the size of the grains was a function of the deposition time. The orientation of the diamond grains changed gradually across the substrate from (100) to (110) orientation as we scanned from the high-temperature to the low-temperature zone. The films were characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. XRD showed strong (400) reflections in the oriented samples. SEM results indicated the presence of smooth diamond surfaces consisting of predominantly (100) oriented platelets. As the (100) oriented diamond grains were grown on top of the (100) oriented silicon substrates, the faces were mostly aligned parallel to the substrate surface resulting in the deposition of a smooth diamond surface. AFM observations revealed the presence of steps located at the boundaries of the oriented grains. FTIR results showed the characteristic difference in hydrogen bonding in the oriented samples and gave useful information about mechanisms responsible for the orientation. Quantitative analysis was carried out to measure the H content in the films, and it was found that the oriented films contained less hydrogen. Our findings suggest that high saturation of carbon and a concentration gradient of sp3 CH2 species can be the key factor in the oriented growth of (100) diamond grains.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1Demuynck, L., Arnault, J.C., Speisser, C., Polini, R. and Normand, F. Le: Mechanisms of CVD diamond nucleation and growth on mechanically scratched and virgin Si(100) surfaces. Diamond Relat. Mater. 6, 235 (1997).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2Hassan, I.U., Rego, C.A., Ali, N., Ahmed, W. and O’Hare, I.P.: An investigation of the structural properties of diamond films deposited by pulsed bias enhanced hot filament CVD. Thin Solid Films 355, 134 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3Barnes, P.N. and Wu, R.L.C.: Nucleation enhancement of diamond with amorphous films. Appl. Phys. Lett. 62, 37 (1993).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4Yugo, S., Kanai, T., Kimura, T. and Muto, T.: Generation of diamond nuclei by electric field in plasma chemical vapor deposition. Appl. Phys. Lett. 58, 1036 (1991).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5Jiang, X., Su, X.W., Chen, Q.J. and Lin, Z.D.: Si implantation: A pretreatment method for diamond nucleation on a Si wafer. Appl. Phys. Lett. 66, 3284 (1995).Google Scholar
6Jiang, X., Klages, C.P., Zachai, R., Hartweg, M. and Fusser, H.J.: Epitaxial diamond thin films on (001) silicon substrates. Appl. Phys. Lett. 62, 3438 (1993).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7Jiang, X., Fryda, M. and Jia, C.L.: High quality heteroepitaxial diamond films on silicon. Recent progresses. Diamond Relat. Mater. 9, 1640 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8Wolter, S.D., Stoner, B.R. and Glass, J.T.: Textured growth of diamond on silicon via in situ carburization and bias-enhanced nucleation. Appl. Phys. Lett. 62, 1215 (1993).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9Chen, Q., Yang, J. and Lin, Z.: Synthesis of oriented textured diamond films on silicon via hot filament chemical vapor deposition. Appl. Phys. Lett. 67, 1853 (1995).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10Wild, C., Koildl, P., Müller-Sebert, W., Walcher, H., Kohl, R., Herres, N., Locher, R., Samlenski, R. and Brenn, R.: Chemical vapour deposition and characterization of smooth {100}-faceted diamond films. Diamond Relat. Mater. 2, 158 (1993).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11Li, X., Hayashi, Y. and Nishino, S.: In-situ ellipsometry study of initial stage of bias-enhanced nucleation and heteroepitaxy of diamond on silicon(100) by hot filament chemical vapor deposition. Diamond Relat. Mater. 6, 1117 (1997).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12Yugo, S., Nakamura, N. and Kimura, T.: Analysis of heteroepitaxial mechanism of diamond grown by chemical vapor deposition. Diamond Relat. Mater. 7, 1017 (1998).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13Nishitani-Gamo, M., Ando, T. and Watanabe, K.: A nondiamond phase at the interface between oriented diamond and Si(100) observed by confocal Raman spectroscopy. Appl. Phys. Lett. 70, 1530 (1997).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14Nishitani-Gamo, M., Ando, T. and Watanabe, K.: Interfacial structures of oriented diamond on Si(100) characterized by confocal Raman spectroscopy. Diamond Relat. Mater. 6, 1036 (1997).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15Plitzko, J., Rosler, M. and Nickel, K.G.: Heteroepitaxial growth of diamond thin films on silicon. Diamond Relat. Mater. 6, 935 (1997).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16Saada, S., Barrat, S. and Bauer-Grosse, E.: Towards homogeneous and reproducible highly oriented diamond films. Diamond Relat. Mater. 9, 300 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17Sharda, T., Misra, D.S. and Avasthi, D.K.: Hydrogen in chemical vapour deposited diamond films. Vacuum 47, 1259 (1996).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18Sun, B., Zhang, X., Zhang, Q. and Lin, Z.: Growth mechanism and the order of appearance of diamond (111) and (100) facets. Phys. Rev. B 47, 9816 (1993).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19Harris, S.J.: Mechanism for diamond growth from methyl radicals. Appl. Phys. Lett. 56, 2298 (1990).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20Lee, S.T. and Pai, G.A.: Surface phonons and CH vibrational modes of diamond (100) and (111) surfaces. Phys. Rev. B 48, 2684 (1993).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21Ando, T., Aizawa, T., Yamamoto, K., Sato, Y. and Kamo, M.: The chemisorption of hydrogen on diamond surfaces studied by high resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy. Diamond Relat. Mater. 3, 245 (1999).Google Scholar
22Chaney, J.A. and Feigerle, C.S.: Characterization of chlorinated chemical vapor deposited and natural (100) diamond. Surf. Sci. 425, 245 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23MacNamara, K.M., Williams, B.E., Gleason, K.K. and Scruggs, B.E.: Identification of defects and impurities in chemical-vapor-deposited diamond through infrared spectroscopy. J. Appl. Phys. 76, 2466 (1994).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24Jacob, W. and Unger, M.: Experimental determination of the absorption strength of C–H vibrations for infrared analysis of hydrogenated carbon films. Appl. Phys. Lett. 68, 475 (1996).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25Zhang, W.J. and Jiang, X.: The contribution of H+ ion etching during the initial deposition stage to the orientation grade of diamond films. Thin Solid Films 348, 84 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26Wittorf, D., Jager, W., Urban, K., Gutheit, T., Guttler, H., Schulz, G. and Zachai, R.: Microstructure and growth of MWCVD diamond on Si1-x Cx buffer layers. Diamond Relat. Mater. 6, 649 (1997).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27Stammler, M., Stockel, R., Ley, L., Albercht, M. and Strunk, H.P.: Diamond nucleation on silicon during bias treatment in chemical vapour deposition as analysed by electron microscopy. Diamond Relat. Mater. 6, 747 (1997).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28Jiang, X. and Jia, C.L.: Diamond epitaxy on (001) silicon: An interface investigation. Appl. Phys. Lett. 67, 1197 (1995).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29Nesladek, M., Meykens, K., Haenen, K., Navratil, J. and Quaeyhaegens, C.: Characteristic defects in CVD diamond: Optical and electron paramagnetic resonance study. Diamond Relat. Mater. 8, 1480 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar