SURFACE CHARACTERIZATION OF DIAMOND FILMS POLISHED BY THERMOMECHANICAL POLISHING METHOD

The rough grown surface of a diamond film deposited by the hot filamen t chemical vapour deposition (CVD) method was polished by thermomechan ical polishing on a hot iron plate at 1173 K. The surface composition and structure of the polished diamond film were analysed by Raman spec troscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), thin film X-ray diffracti on (XRD) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). The graphitizatio n of the near-surface region of the diamond film by the hot iron plate was observed during thermomechanical polishing. At the diamond film/S i interface, beta-SiC was observed during the early stages of polishin g, but after prolonged treatment the graphitization of the diamond fil m occurred rapidly.