Characteristics of Diamond Thin Films Fabricated by Hlicon Plasma CVD

Diamond films were prepared on Si (100) substractes by helicon plasma with methane-hydrogen gas mixture. Nucleation and surface morphology with various scratch times were analyzed by X-ray photo-election spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy(AFM). In contrast to the previous results showing the increased nucleation density of diamond by scratch test, the long-time scratching impeded the growth of thin film, which might result from the continuous damage at a fixed region. According to the results by the XPS analysis, carbon atoms were oversaturated on the surface, SiC was then formed, and finally diamond particles were deposited on it. The diamond particles deposited by this system were very small and rough, suggesting that the carbon atoms were joined without enough energy.