Defect examination of diamond crystals by surface hydrogen-plasma etching

A method to examine the defects and defect distribution in diamond crystals has been developed. To make the crystal defects visible, a high-temperatur e hydrogen-plasma etching was employed. By a combination of scanning electr on microscopy and atomic force microscopy, the etch pits of the (001) diamo nd faces parallel to the substrate were observed and analyzed. The defect d istribution of chemical-vapor-deposited diamond crystallites corresponds ex actly with that observed by transmission electron microscopy, and can be re lated to the growth mode during film deposition. (C) 1999 American Institut e of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)01051-7].