GRAPHITE AS A SUBSTRATE FOR DIAMOND GROWTH

The nucleation of diamond on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) substrates using hot-filament-assisted chemical-vapor deposition has been studied. Significant differences were observed between the basal {0001} and prism plane {hk*0} surfaces, and for various pretreatments of these surfaces. Observed nucleation densities were found correlate with the C KVV Auger transition signatures observed ex situ on these surfaces prior to diamond growth. An enhanced diamond nucleation density is observed on those carbon surfaces which give an Auger signature close to that observed for the prism or edge plane surface(s) of HOPG. The cleaved basal plane surface of HOPG appears to give by far the lowest nucleation density for diamond.