X-ray absorption fine structure of diamond films grown by chemical vapor deposition

We report the x-ray absorption spectra for two hard carbon films grown by filament-assisted chemical vapor deposition in gas mixtures of 1% and 0.18% methane in hydrogen. Although the Raman spectra of these two films suggest significant differences in structure, the x-ray absorption near-edge structure and extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) are very similar. Analyzing the EXAFS from these films with a diamond crystal as a reference gives carboncarbon bond lengths of 1.53±0.03 Å. This result is consistent with diamond and incompatible with graphite. We conclude that the carbon films have the same local structure as diamond.