Diamond thin films have been grown using a cyclic growth-etch oxy-acet
ylene flame process on Si, W and Mo substrates. This process resulted
into the growth of cubic diamond, 8H and 15R polytypes of diamond. The
results suggest that cubic diamond grows with the formation of interm
ediate low-symmetry polytypes, Glancing angle X-ray diffraction (XRD)
and micro Raman spectroscopy techniques have been used to characterize
these films. The relative growth of various polytypes have been found
to be a strong function of acetylene to oxygen flow ratio, speed of r
otation and the substrate materials. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. Al
l rights reserved.