Electron microscopy of interfaces in chemical vapour deposition diamond films on silicon

Wittorf, D.; Jäger, W.; Dieker, C.; Flöter, A.; Güttler, H.

doi:10.1016/s0925-9635(00)00300-9

Cited by 22 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study of diamond coating on Si substrate was published earlier by other research group 19 to report columnar growth of diamond, but in their case, the formation of such intermediate layer composed of large Si crystals was not observed. Our observation of the formation of large crystalline Si layer containing dislocations is different from the findings by other workers, [21][22][23] who reported the formation of SiC islands at the substrate-coating interface.…”

Section: Cross-section Tem Study Of the Coating-substrate Interfacecontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…However, none of these works have reported the use of H + plasma in order to remove substrate surface oxide. Although there is one report of substartate pretreatment by H + plasma, 21 the purpose was to remove any hydrocarbon on substrate surface. Our approach of prolonged H + plasma pre-treatment of substrate surface is entirely different from other's work in that the purpose was to remove the surface oxide through process of reduction by H + plasma.…”

Section: Cross-section Tem Study Of the Coating-substrate Interfacementioning

confidence: 99%

“…These studies were focused on defect analysis, [17][18][19] presence of impurities, 20 microstructure of the interfaces and the dependence of the nature of defects on experimental growth parameters. 21 There are also a few important reports 22,23 elucidating on layer growth sequence during the initial stages of growth on substrate and reporting the formation of a SiC layer just before the actual growth of diamond crystals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Influence of growth conditions on microstructure and defects in diamond coatings grown by microwave plasma enhanced CVD

et al. 2015

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Diamond coatings were grown on SiO 2 /Si substrate under various process conditions by microwave plasma chemical vapour deposition (MPCVD) using CH 4 /H 2 gas mixture. In this paper, we present a microstructural study to elucidate on the growth mechanism and evolution of defects, viz., strain, dislocations, stacking faults, twins and non-diamond impurities in diamond coatings grown under different process conditions. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the diamond coatings. It has been shown that our new approach of prolonged substrate pre-treatment under hydrogen plasma yielded a new growth sequence that the SiO 2 layer on the Si substrate was first reduced to yield Si layer of ∼150 nm thickness before diamond was allowed to grow under CH 4 -H 2 plasma, created subsequently. It has also been shown that Si and O as impurity from the substrate hinders the initial diamond growth to yield non-diamond phases. It is being suggested that the crystal defects like twins, stacking faults, dislocations in the diamond grains and dislocations in the intermediate Si layer are generated due to the development of non-uniform stresses during diamond growth at high temperature.

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Section: Cross-section Tem Study Of the Coating-substrate Interfacecontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Cross-section Tem Study Of the Coating-substrate Interfacementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Influence of growth conditions on microstructure and defects in diamond coatings grown by microwave plasma enhanced CVD

et al. 2015

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“…In the literature experimental observations of very small diamond nuclei have been reported. For example, diamond nanocrystals (2-6 nm) were observed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) grown directly on Si surfaces 34,35 (Figure 10.2) or on a silicon carbide interlayer, 36 sometimes even embedded in an amorphous carbon matrix. 37 For diamond nucleation on iridium, it was impossible to observe the smallest diamond nuclei using HRTEM before short CVD growth.…”

Section: Experimental Observations Of Diamond Nucleimentioning

confidence: 99%

Diamond Nucleation and Seeding Techniques: Two Complementary Strategies for the Growth of Ultra-thin Diamond Films

Arnault

Girard

2014

Nanodiamond

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The controlled growth of ultra-thin diamond layers on a diversity of substrates is a major challenge for many technological applications (heat spreaders, electromechanical systems, etc.). This explains the huge effort produced during the last two decades to master the early stages of diamond formation. Two main pathways have been investigated in the literature. The nucleation pathway aims to produce diamond nuclei, i.e., the smallest thermodynamically stable diamond islands, at the substrate surface. This is mainly performed by in situ treatments preceding diamond chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth, such as bias enhanced nucleation (BEN). The second approach consists of skipping the nucleation stage by covering, ex situ, the substrate with diamond nanoparticles, which act as seeds for diamond CVD growth. The present chapter is a review of these pathways. Their respective benefits and drawbacks are discussed. Finally, these two approaches appear very complementary. Seeding allows the growth of ultra-thin diamond layers on large non-conductive substrates with micrometric patterns. On the other hand, the BEN in situ nucleation treatment remains the favored technique to achieve well-adherent diamond films and diamond heteroepitaxy.

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“…Recent HRTEM works attempt to provide answers to these opening questions. [52][53][54][55][56] Let us first present the elemental mechanisms occurring during the classical nucleation of diamond on silicon substrates (Subsec. 3.1).…”

Section: Early Stages Of Diamond Nucleation On Silicon: Present Knowlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Highly Oriented Diamond Films on Heterosubstrates: Current State of the Art and Remaining Challenges

Arnault

2003

Surf. Rev. Lett.

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The potential applications of diamond in the field of electronics working under high power and high temperature (aeronautic, aerospace, etc.) require highly oriented films on heterosubstrates. This is the key motivation of the huge research efforts that have been carried out during the last ten years. Very significant progress has been accomplished and nowadays diamond films with misorientations close to 1.5 • are elaborated on β-SiC monocrystals. Moreover, an excellent crystalline quality with polar and azimuthal misalignments lower than 0.6 • is reported for diamond films grown on iridium buffer layers. Unfortunately, these films are still too defective for high power electronics applications. To achieve higher crystalline quality, further improvements of the deposition methods are needed. Nevertheless, a deeper knowledge of the elemental mechanisms occurring during the early stages of growth is also essential. The first part of this paper focuses on the state of the art of the different investigated ways towards heteroepitaxy. Secondly, the present knowledge of the early stages of diamond nucleation and growth on silicon substrates for both classical nucleation and bias-assisted nucleation (BEN) is reviewed. Finally, the remaining questions concerning the understanding of the nucleation processes are discussed.

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Electron microscopy of interfaces in chemical vapour deposition diamond films on silicon

Cited by 22 publications

References 12 publications

Influence of growth conditions on microstructure and defects in diamond coatings grown by microwave plasma enhanced CVD

Influence of growth conditions on microstructure and defects in diamond coatings grown by microwave plasma enhanced CVD

Diamond Nucleation and Seeding Techniques: Two Complementary Strategies for the Growth of Ultra-thin Diamond Films

Highly Oriented Diamond Films on Heterosubstrates: Current State of the Art and Remaining Challenges

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