Nucleation Enhancement of Diamond via Electron Cyclotron Resonance Plasma

A novel nucleation technique based on electron cyclotron resonance microwave plasma was developed to grow diamond films. A nucleation density higher than 108 nuclei/cm2 was achieved on an untreated, mirror-polished Si substrate. Uniform diamond films were obtained by combining this nucleation method with growth by the common microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition method. Atomic force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize the phase composition and morphology of the samples after the nucleation and growth stages.