The influences of reactant composition and substrate material on the combustion synthesis of diamond

It has been observed that diamond deposition by flat flame chemical vapor d eposition is achieved over a very narrow range of reactant composition. We demonstrate that this diamond deposition window is strongly determined by t he nature of the substrate material. Furthermore, once a continuous diamond film is formed, the window appears to be independent of the original mater ial. Substrates examined include silicon, glass, titanium, tungsten, nickel , and molybdenum. The dependence of growth rate, morphology, and quality on reactant composition has been quantified using scanning electron microscop y, Raman spectroscopy, and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), It was f ound that the highest quality diamond was grown at conditions where diamond does not nucleate on ultrasonically scratched silicon. Thus, the productio n of high quality diamond on silicon by combustion synthesis requires diffe rent conditions for nucleation and growth.