ANALYSES OF AN ORIENTED DIAMOND NUCLEATION PROCESSES ON SI SUBSTRATE BY HOT-FILAMENT CHEMICAL-VAPOR-DEPOSITION

Bias-enhanced nucleation (BEN) of oriented diamond on Si(100) substrat es was investigated by ellipsometric monitoring using hot-filament che mical vapor deposition (HF-CVD). A plasma was observed above the subst rate on the Mo holder by a glow discharge during the BEN process. We c onfirm that this plasma plays a critical role in the BEN process. A di amond film growth boundary was present when the initial bias voltage w as below -250 V. The results of the ellipsometric monitoring indicate that the BEN process includes the following stages: carbonization, inc ubation, nucleation, nuclei growth and film growth. A scanning electro n micrograph showed that biasing for too long induces twinned crystals . It is showed that the biasing time is a very important factor in ori ented nucleation.