Low roughness diamond films produced at temperatures less than 600 degreesC

Recent progress has been made in the production of low-roughness Chemical V apor Deposition (CVD) diamond films at temperatures less than 600 degreesC. These films are particularly suitable for cutting tool applications. Such progress was achieved by simultaneously promoting the renucleation process and controlling the growth process at low temperatures. In this paper, we s how that below 700 degreesC (unlike what is usually observed at temperature s in the range of 750-900 degreesC), secondary nucleation does not occur ea sily even on (111) faces. This makes the growth of low roughness films diff icult. We also report on the role of a thin gold layer deposited on top of a diamond film in favoring smoother film formation. This observation was se en to be due to the ability of the thin gold layer in promoting renucleatio n. Furthermore, the effect of the percentage of methane introduced in the: feed gas was studied. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.