PHOTOELECTRON-SPECTROSCOPY OF CVD DIAMOND

We report a study of the electronic structure of thin diamond films by core state (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)) and valence band (UV photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS)) photoelectron spectroscopy. These techniques were used to investigate the different phases in the initial growth of polycrystalline diamond films on Si(100) substrates. The films were deposited by a standard microwave technique as well as by bias-enhanced microwave plasma chemical vapour deposition in a dilute mixture of methane in hydrogen. The influence of sample preparation (such as prebiasing or prescratching of the silicon surface with different sized diamond powder prior to deposition) on nucleation density and electronic structure was also investigated by scanning electron microscopy and photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) respectively. The surface composition was probed as a function of deposition time. The XPS data reveal the formation of an SiC phase at the early stage on nucleation, preceding the gradual growth of diamond. At intermediate stages a combination of different carbon phases was observed. The atomic structure of the interface phases is discussed and a growth model is proposed. Valence band spectra of the different samples show the extreme sensitivity of PES to impurities and to surface properties such as reconstruction. The obtained data were compared to valence band measurements of natural diamond and other forms of carbon and to some extent to data obtained with Raman spectroscopy.