Goniometric and topographic characterization of synthetic IIa diamonds

Synthetic type IIa diamonds were characterized using rocking curve measurements and x-ray topography with quasi-plane-wave incidence, and high resolution reciprocal space mapping. The rocking curves of the (111) crystals were comparable to the theoretical ones. Some crystals had wider rocking curves because of the higher density of stacking faults. Even the highest quality crystal did not give the theoretical rocking curve due to dislocations and strain bands. On the other hand, the (100) crystals had nearly perfect area. The difference was attributed to the orientation of the seed crystal.