Electrodeposited Ni and Ni-diamond composite layers were used as diffusion
barriers for Fe to facilitate the diamond growth on stainless steel substra
tes. Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy show the formation
of good quality diamond crystallites by chemical vapor deposition. X-ray d
iffraction results indicate that the expansion of Ni unit cell has taken pl
ace due to the formation of the Ni-C solid solution. This observation is al
so well supported by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies. The lattice
constant of the expanded Ni unit cell matches closely with the diamond, and
this may be helpful in explaining the epitaxial growth of diamond on singl
e-crystal Ni observed by others.