Spectroscopic ellipsometry of nanocrystalline diamond film growth

Thomas, Evan, Mandal, Soumen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8912-1439, Ahmed, Ashek I, MacDonald, John ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5504-1692, Dane, Thomas G., Rawle, Jonathan, Cheng, Chia-Liang and Williams, Oliver ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7210-3004 2017. Spectroscopic ellipsometry of nanocrystalline diamond film growth. ACS Omega 2 (10) , pp. 6715-6727. 10.1021/acsomega.7b00866

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Abstract

With the retention of many of the unrivaled properties of bulk diamond but in thin-film form, nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) has applications ranging from micro-/nano-electromechanical systems to tribological coatings. However, with Young’s modulus, transparency, and thermal conductivity of films all dependent on the grain size and nondiamond content, compositional and structural analysis of the initial stages of diamond growth is required to optimize growth. Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) has therefore been applied to the characterization of 25−75 nm thick NCD samples atop nanodiamond-seeded silicon with a clear distinction between the nucleation and bulk growth regimes discernable. The resulting presence of an interfacial carbide and peak in nondiamond carbon content upon coalescence is correlated with Raman spectroscopy, whereas the surface roughness and microstructure are in accordance with values provided by atomic force microscopy. As such, SE is demonstrated to be a powerful technique for the characterization of the initial stages of growth and hence the optimization of seeding and nucleation within films to yield high-quality NCD.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Physics and Astronomy
Subjects:	Q Science > QC Physics
Publisher:	American Chemical Society
ISSN:	2470-1343
Funders:	EPS
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	17 October 2017
Date of Acceptance:	19 September 2017
Last Modified:	06 Jan 2024 02:36
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/105614

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