X-ray absorption spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy study of bias-enhanced nucleation of diamond films

The bias-enhanced nucleation of diamond on Si(100) has been studied by x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) and atomic force microscopy, two techniques well suited to characterize nanometric crystallites. Diamond nuclei of ∼15 nm are formed after 5 min of bias-enhanced treatment. The number of nuclei and its size increases with the time of application of the bias voltage. A nanocrystalline diamond film is attained after 20 min of bias-enhanced nucleation. At the initial nucleation stages, the Si substrate appears covered with diamond crystallites and graphite, without SiC being detected by XANES.