Pre-nucleation techniques for enhancing nucleation density and adhesion of low temperature deposited ultra-nanocrystalline diamond

Effect of pre-nucleation techniques on enhancing nucleation density and the adhesion of ultra-nanocrystalline diamond (UNCD) deposited on the Si substrates at low temperature were investigated. Four different pre-nucleation techniques were used for depositing UNCD films: (i) bias-enhanced nucleation (BEN); (ii) pre-carburized and then ultrasonicated with diamond powder solution (PC-U); (iii) ultrasonicated with diamond and Ti mixed powder solution (U-m); (iv) ultrasonicated with diamond powder solution (U). The nucleation density is lowest for UNCD/U-substrate films ( 10⁸ grains/cm²), which results in roughest surface and poorest film-to-substrate adhesion. The UNCD/PC-U-substrate films show largest nucleation density ( 1 × 10¹¹ grains/cm²) and most smooth surface (8.81 nm-rms), whereas the UNCD/BEN-substrate films exhibit the strongest adhesion to the Si substrates (critical loads =  67 mN). Such a phenomenon can be ascribed to the high kinetic energy of the carbon species, which easily form covalent bonding, Si–C, and bond strongly to both the Si and diamond.