USE OF HIGH-ENERGY BORON ION IRRADIATION TO FACILITATE STM INVESTIGATIONS OF CVD DIAMOND

Diamond films are synthesized using hot filament chemical vapour depos ition (HF-CVD) method. The films are irradiated by high energy boron i ons using Pelletron accelerator, followed by thermal annealing treatme nt to achieve doping. It is shown that this method of doping avoids su rface disorder and graphitization in the films, which in turn facilita te viable scanning tunneling microscopic (STM) investigations on diamo nd films. With STM imaging it is observed that smooth facets of diamon d crystallites exhibit a characteristic layered structure at nano-leve l. The nature of surface disorder produced on film surfaces from nitro gen plasma treatment and atomic hydrogen treatment is also studied. (C ) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.