Diamond deposition by hot filament chemical vapour deposition (HFCVD)
on DLC films prepared by laser ablation (5 nm < thickness <20 nm) was
studied by electron spectroscopies, including X-ray photoemission, Aug
er electron and electron loss spectroscopy directly connected to the H
FCVD growth chamber. It is shown that, whatever the thickness and the
annealing procedure, this carbon layer is removed in the gas phase or
reacts with silicon to Form a silicon carbide layer as soon as the typ
ical operative conditions for diamond growth are implemented (1073 K a
nd 0.5% CH4 diluted in H-2). The instability of this carbon layer is a
scribed to the etching behaviour of highly reactive hydrogen radicals
at the high temperature of the diamond growth (1073 K), especially wit
h carbon of graphitic form. Moreover, both the thickness of the carbon
films and the annealing temperature greatly influence the diamond nuc
leation density. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.