Mechanistic study of ion-induced diamond nucleation

The effect of low-energy ion bombardment of silicon on diamond nucleation w as investigated. By bombarding 100 eV ions of methane and hydrogen on a sil icon substrate prior to diamond growth by chemical vapor deposition, diamon d nucleation can be immensely enhanced. The ion beam treatment deposited a layer of nano-crystalline graphitic carbon embedded with amorphous SiC. Dia mond then nucleated on the graphite overlayer; the nucleation density incre ased with increasing ion dose. At 1 x 10(19) ions cm(-2), a nuclei density of 4 x 10(8) cm(-2) was obtained. These results show that ion bombardment o f the substrate enhances diamond nucleation. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.