Investigation in the role of hydrogen on the properties of diamond films grown using Ar/H2/CH4 microwave plasma |
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Authors: | K.J. SankaranP.T. Joseph H.C. ChenN.H. Tai I.N. Lin |
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Affiliation: | a Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing-Hua University, Hsin-Chu 300, Taiwan, ROCb Department of Physics, Tamkang University, Tamsui 251, Taiwan, ROC |
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Abstract: | The transition of diamond grain sizes from micron- to nano- and then to ultranano-size could be observed when hydrogen concentration is being decreased in the Ar/CH4 plasma. When grown in H2-rich plasma (H2 = 99% or 50%), well faceted microcrystalline diamond (MCD) surface with grain sizes of less than 0.1 μm are observed. The surface structure of the diamond film changes to a cauliflower-like geometry with a grain size of around 20 nm for the films grown in 25% H2-plasma. In the Ar/CH4 plasma, ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) films are produced with equi-axed geometry with a grain size of 5-10 nm. The H2-content imposes a more striking effect on the granular structure of diamond films than the substrate temperature. The induction of the grain growth process, either by using H2-rich plasma or a higher substrate temperature increases the turn-on field in the electron field emission process, which is ascribed to the reduction in the proportion of grain boundaries. |
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Keywords: | Diamond films Electron field emission Optimization |
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