Transitions in morphology observed in nitrogen/methane–hydrogen depositions of polycrystalline diamond films

In this work, we report on a series of transitions in morphology and texture as 5–1000 parts per million of nitrogen were added to 2% and 1% methane–hydrogen depositions of polycrystalline diamond films. Five results are reported. (1) The threshold for transition into the {100}-faceted morphology occurred at lower parts per million nitrogen for the 1% versus the 2% methane–hydrogen series, opposite from the transition thresholds previously reported. (2) At 1000 parts per million nitrogen the film quality of both series had not yet seriously degraded. (3) A well defined sequence of intermediate texture transitions as a function of increasing parts per million nitrogen was observed for both series. (4) A pretransition morphology of large crystallites interspersed among microcrystalline material directly preceding the transitions to the {100}-faceted morphology was observed for both series. (5) A layered growth and/or etched morphology at high nitrogen concentrations was observed for both series. We discuss ...