DIAMOND FILMS GROWN ON P-TYPE MICROCRYSTALLINE-SIC-H/CRYSTALLINE-SI SUBSTRATES

In this work we have used a two-step process to prepare diamond thin films. A boron-doped microcrystalline SiC (p-type mu c-SiC:H) buffer layer was first deposited onto smooth crystalline silicon (x-Si) substrates by electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition (ECR-CVD). Secondly, diamond polycrystalline films were grown by hot-filament CVD on the mu c-SiC:H/x-Si substrates. The resulting films were characterized by Auger electron spectroscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, secondary electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The effect of the substrate preparation on the nucleation and growth of diamond films on mu c-SiC:H/x-Si substrates is discussed in terms of the presence of Si and SiC microcrystalline clusters embedded in the amorphous network structure of the mu c-SiC:H films.