We have found that diamond can be synthesized from a mixture of CH4 an
d N2 without adding any H-2. This new synthesis is sharply different f
rom the common practice of diamond growth by chemical vapor deposition
, which uses a hydrogen-rich mixture of CH4 and H-2. In this new appro
ach, nitrogen becomes an active component of microwave plasma leading
to diamond growth. Nitrogen participates in abstraction of hydrogen fr
om the diamond surface. We hypothesize that formation of HCN is an ind
ication of hydrogen abstraction that allows diamond to grow from CH4+N
2 mixtures. As a consequence of surface processes, the crystal structu
re of the grown diamond is distorted. The sequence of tetrahedral laye
rs is mixed (cubic and hexagonal) and it suffers from turbostatic diso
rder. Diamond films were characterized by x-ray diffraction, Auger ele
ctron spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectr
oscopy.