ROLE OF SURFACE-FEATURES IN CVD DIAMOND NUCLEATION ON SURFACE-PRETREATED SUBSTRATES

The role of substrate pretreatments in the nucleation of CVD diamond o n non-diamond substrates is not clearly understood. The CVD diamond nu cleation on polished Si(100) pretreated with ultrasonication and patte rned Si(100) without and with the identical pretreatment was studied. It was concluded that nucleation on pretreated surfaces occurs predomi nantly on the diamond residue, but the surface features produced play an important role as traps for diamond particulates during pretreatmen t, leading to more effective diamond seeding. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scienc e B.V.