Heteroepitaxial diamond growth

Abstract : Progress continued in 1992 in the two major thrust areas of the diamond program; diamond consolidation, and heteroepitaxial nucleation. We have been developing a consolidation technology as one approach to large area diamond single crystals. During this phase of the program, techniques were developed for (a) bonding of natural diamond seed crystals to non-diamond substrates, (b) overgrowth for consolidation, (c) ion-implantation for lift-off of thin diamond platelets. Experimental and theoretical progress was also made on heteroepitaxial growth of diamond. Theoretical modeling indicated a possible role of subsurface carbon in Ni(111) in preventing diamond nucleation. Experimental studies have provided evidence for several roles for oxygen on diamond surfaces during diamond growth. Progress was also made in developing techniques for microstructural characterization of CVD diamond. TEM sample preparation methods were developed for cross-sectional and plan-view analysis of diamond films and substrates. A simple method for rapidly assessing defect densities in CVD and natural diamond was also developed.