Detonation Nanodiamond Seeding Technique for Nucleation Enhancement of CVD Diamond – Some Experimental Insights

Detonation nanodiamond (DND) seeding recently emerged as an effective method for enhancing nucleation of chemical vapor deposited (CVD) diamond on non-diamond substrates. This work attempts to provide insight on this effect. For this purpose, polycrystalline diamond coatings were deposited on DND-treated silicon substrates. The exposed nucleation surface side was examined with x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM); it was found to contain micron-sized granular features, composed of 25-40 nm diamond nanocrystals, similar in size to the DND seeds. HRTEM images further confirm this similarity. A detailed analysis of the nanocarbon phase diagram suggests that nanodiamond crystals can form under CVD environments.