ESR AND X-RAY-DIFFRACTION STUDIES OF THE CVD DIAMOND FILMS

Thin polycrystalline diamond films were prepared by thermal decomposit ion of hydrocarbon and hydrogen in the presence of a hot tungsten fila ment (HF CVD technique). Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) spectroscopy in vestigations were carried out and correlated to diamond microcrystal s ize estimated on the basis of X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. It was shown that both ESR signal and average crystal size of the thin C VD diamond films depend strongly on the ratio of hydrocarbon/hydrogen concentrations in the CVD reactor. XRD spectra indicate the presence o f fullerene and graphitic polytypes in most studied samples, independe nt of growth conditions. Observed reciprocal proportionality of the ES R signal intensity versus diamond grain size suggests that the above m entioned carbon phases are mainly dispersed al the grain boundaries.