MECHANISM FOR DIAMOND NUCLEATION AND GROWTH ON SINGLE-CRYSTAL COPPER SURFACES IMPLANTED WITH CARBON

The nucleation and growth of diamond crystals on single-crystal copper surfaces implanted with carbon ions has been studied. Microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition was used for diamond growth. The single-crystal copper substrates were implanted either at room temperature or at elevated temperature (approximately 820-degrees-C) with carbon ions prior to diamond nucleation. This procedure leads to the formation of a graphite film on the copper surface which greatly enhances diamond crystallite nucleation. From our study we construct a simple lattice model for diamond growth on graphite as <111> diamond parallel to <0001> graphite and <110> diamond parallel to <1120BAR> graphite.