The preparation of high quality oriented diamond thin films via low temperature and hydrogen ion etched nucleation

A three-step process was used to prepare high quality [001]-oriented diamond films. First, diamond crystallites were nucleated for 20 min on Si(001) at a temperature around 740 degrees C by bias-enhance method, during this step the portion of [001]-oriented diamond nuclei was increased in comparison with the nuclei deposited by a two-step method. Then hydrogen ion etching was performed for 30 min by setting an electric potential of -140 V. After the etching step most of the crystallites were [001]-oriented and twinned crystallites disappeared. Finally, diamond thin films were deposited under conventional conditions for [001]-textured growth. SEM was used to analyse the morphology of diamond crystallites and films. The results indicate that large area, uniform and [001]-oriented diamond thin films can be prepared by three-step growth. The films show good Raman characteristics and higher thermal conductivity than those deposited by a two-step process. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.