Electron microscopic study on the initial stages of (111)-oriented diamonds grown on Pt substrates

The initial stages of (111)-oriented diamonds grown on Pt substrates have b een studied by both scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission ele ctron microscopy (TEM). TEM images clearly reveal that scratching pretreatm ent strongly damages the surfaces of (111)-Pt substrates. After pretreatmen t, the column like polycrystalline damage layers are observed to form on th e Pt surfaces for the first time, the average thickness of which is about 4 00 to 500 nm. During the subsequent deposition process, these surface damag e layers gradually recrystallized into the single-crystalline state. The nu cleation and initial growth of diamond particles are, in fact, accompanied by the Pt surface recrystallization process, and the formation of the (111) -oriented diamond grains is discussed in regard to the Pt surface recrystal lization process.