EPITAXY OF DIAMOND ON SILICON

Localized heteroepitaxial growth of diamond on (100) silicon was inves tigated using microwave plasma deposition. The final growth was perfor med in hydrogen-carbon-monoxide-methane gas mixtures conducive to (100 ) texturing of the crystallites. The deposition was preceded by either a single or two-stage in situ bias treatment to enhance the nucleatio n density. An initial carburization stage was not found to be essentia l although the inclusion of this step reduced the bias period required for epitaxy. The bias current-time characteristics exhibit features w hich could be interpreted as changes in the chemical composition of th e nucleation layer. Epitaxial films were produced with grain sizes of 15-20 mu m.