Scanning tunneling microscopy on chemical vapor deposited diamond films

We have studied chemical vapor deposited diamond films by scanning tunneling microscopy. The films have been prepared in a hot-filament reactor. The gas, a mixture of 1% methane and 99% hydrogen, is fed into the reactor by a pulsed high pressure valve. Growth rates of 1.5 μm/h were obtained. The films are defined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction. On a scale similar to those normally found in SEM micrographs a 110 texture is shown. On smaller scales amorphous structures with typical sizes less than 100 nm and individual equally sized clusters of approximately 5 nm in diameter are observed.