Early Periods of Low-Temperature Linear Antenna CVD Nucleation and Growth Study of Nanocrystalline Diamond Films

Low-temperature growth of diamond films using the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method is not so widely reported and its initial periods of nucleation and growth phenomenon are of particular interest to the researchers. Four sets of substrates were selected for growing diamond films using linear antenna microwave plasma-enhanced CVD (LA-MPCVD). Among them, silicon and sapphire substrates were pre-treated with detonation nanodiamond (DND) seeds before diamond growth, for enhancement of its nucleation. Carbon nanotube (CNT) films on Si substrates were also used as another template for LA-MPCVD diamond growth. To enhance diamond nucleation during CVD growth, some of the CNT films were again pre-treated by the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of diamond nanoparticles. All these substrates were then put inside the LA-MPCVD chamber to grow diamond films under variable processing conditions. Microwave input powers (1100–2800 W), input power modes (pulse or continuous), antenna-to-stage distances (5–6.5 cm), process gas recipes (with or without CO2), methane gas percentages (3%–5%), and deposition times (11–120 min) were altered to investigate their effect on the growth of diamond film on the pre-treated substrates. The substrate temperatures were found to vary from as low as 170 °C to a maximum of 307 °C during the alteration of the different processing parameters. Contrary to the conventional MPCVD, it was observed that during the first hour of LA-MPCVD diamond growth, DND seeds and the nucleating structures do not coalesce together to make a continuous film. Deposition time was the most critical factor in fully covering the substrate surfaces with diamond film, since the substrate temperature could not become stable during the first hour of LA-MPCVD. CNTs were found to be oxidized rapidly under LA-MPCVD plasma conditions; therefore, a CO2-free process gas recipe was used to reduce CNT burning. Moreover, EPD-coated CNTs were found to be less oxidized by the LACVD plasma during diamond growth.