EFFECT OF MISORIENTATION ANGLES ON THE SURFACE MORPHOLOGIES OF (001)HOMOEPITAXIAL DIAMOND THIN-FILMS

Etching and homoepitaxial growth were performed on 0.1°, 3.5°, and 11.0°off (001) diamond substrates using microwave plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition. Etched surfaces showed a sequential morphological change from etch pits to stepped surface to flat surface with increasing misorientation angle. In homoepitaxial growth hillock formation on the (001) surface was ascribed to the lack of surface steps on the well-oriented substrate, while the growth on the misoriented surfaces proceeded via step flow along 〈110〉. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction showed that the films were single crystals and their surfaces were composed of the 2×1 and 1×2 double-domain structure. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.