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Diamond Growth on a Si Substrate With Ceramic Interlayers
Author(s) -
Li Y. S.,
Xiao C.,
Hirose A.,
Yang Q.,
Shimada S.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1551-2916.2007.01625.x
Subject(s) - diamond , nucleation , materials science , chemical vapor deposition , plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition , ceramic , microcrystalline , wafer , chemical engineering , amorphous solid , substrate (aquarium) , carbon film , mineralogy , composite material , nanotechnology , thin film , crystallography , chemistry , oceanography , organic chemistry , geology , engineering
Deposition of diamond films on Si substrates precoated with a series of ceramic intermediate layers was examined. The interlayers containing SiC, SiN x , SiCN, TiSiN, and TiAlSiN were prepared by a liquid injection plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method using alkoxide solution precursors. The subsequent diamond synthesis on these coatings was carried out by microwave plasma‐assisted CVD (MPCVD) using a H 2 –1%CH 4 mixture. A higher nucleation density of diamond was obtained on these intermediate layers than on the as‐polished Si wafer, along with a nonuniform surface distribution of diamond. Diamond powder scratching pretreatment of these interlayers enhanced the nucleation density and promoted the formation of fully uniform diamond films. Particularly, nanocrystalline diamond films were directly generated on TiSiN and TiAlSiN layers under an identical deposition condition that had favored the formation of microcrystalline diamond films on Si wafers and the Si(C,N) interlayers. The mechanism for this difference is attributed primarily to a higher amount of residual amorphous carbon in TiSiN and TiAlSiN layers than that inside Si(C,N) layers.