Diamond growth onCoSi(2)/Si by bias-enhanced microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition method

Diamond was grown on polycrystalline CoSi2/Si substrates by bias-enhanced m icrowave plasma chemical vapor deposition. Both of the positive and negativ e biasing effects were investigated by microstructural characterization. It has been found that nucleation density can reach similar to 10(9) cm(-2) w ith positive biasing, much higher than with negative biasing. Cross-section al transmission electron microscopy shows that diamond deposited by positiv e biasing grows on a relatively smooth CoSi2 surface, while the etching eff ect of ion bombardment during negative biasing results in a rough CoSi2 sur face. The diamond morphology obtained with negative bias has a flat surface with a strong (1 0 0) texture. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights r eserved.