DIAMOND NUCLEATION ON NICKEL SUBSTRATES SEEDED WITH NON-DIAMOND CARBON

Oriented diamond films have been nucleated on single crystal nickel su bstrates seeded with non-diamond carbon and annealed at high temperatu res in atomic hydrogen. The non-diamond carbon seeds included graphite powders, fullerene (60) powders, and gaseous carbon species. It was f ound that these different non-diamond carbon powders or species were e ffective in the enhancement of oriented nucleation of diamond. The mor phologies of diamond films were similar regardless of the types of car bon used, suggesting a common nucleation mechanism involved. Based on the experimental observations, a revised model was developed for the o riented nucleation of diamond on Ni.