DEPOSITION OF HIGH-QUALITY CUBIC BORON-NITRIDE FILMS ON NICKEL SUBSTRATES

The well-crystallized cubic boron nitride (c-BN) films have been prepa red on polycrystalline Ni substrates using a hot filament assisted rf plasma chemical vapor deposition method. X-ray diffraction showed that high quality c-BN films had been deposited without hexagonal BN (h-BN ) or amorphous BN codeposition. Both (111) and (100) faces were observ ed in scanning electron microscopy images. These results suggested tha t Ni had catalyst effects on the nucleation and the growth of c-BN pha se and inhibited the formation of h-BN.