Laser Method for Synthesis and Processing of Continuous Diamond Films on Nondiamond Substrates

Abstract

A laser method based upon carbon ion implantation and pulsed laser melting of copper has been used to produce continuous diamond thin film. Carbon ions were implanted with ion energies in the range of 60 to 120 keV, and doses of 1.0 x 10(18) to 2.0 x 10(18) ions cm(-2). The ion-implanted specimens were treated with nanosecond excimer laser pulses with the following parameters: energy density, 3.0 to 5.0 J cm(-2); wavelength, 0.308 microm; pulse width, 45 nanoseconds. The specimens were characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering/ion channeling, Auger, and Raman spectroscopy. The macroscopic Raman spectra contained a strong peak at 1332 cm(-1) with full width at half maximum of 5 cm(-1), which is very close to the quality of the spectra obtained from single-crystal diamond. The selected area electron diffraction patterns and imaging confirmed the films to be defect-free single crystal over large areas of up to several square micrometers with no grain boundaries. Low voltage SEM imaging of surface features indicated the film to be continuous with presence of growth steps.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Fundamental Discovery of New Phases and Direct Conversion of Carbon into Diamond and hBN into cBN and Properties

“…[1][2][3] Conversion of carbon, one of the most abundant materials in the Earth's crust, into most precious material diamond has been a cherished goal of the scientists all over the world for the longest time. Diamond is one of the most desirable materials with many applications ranging from abrasives, protective coatings, and biomedical applications to superior diamond electronics, photonics, and display devices.…”

“…The substrates which are planar and lattice matched with cubic diamond such as sapphire and copper aid the epitaxial nucleation of diamond. [2,3] The primary focus of the first part of this paper is on nanosecond laser melting of amorphous carbon films on sapphire, glass, and polymer substrates. The irradiation of these films with ArF Excimer laser pulses (wavelength 193 nm or photon energy of 6 eV and pulse duration of 20 ns) leads to confinement of laser energy and selective melting of amorphous carbon films.…”

Materials Processing of Diamond: Etching, Doping by Ion Implantation and Contact Formation

“…It appears that the preparation of the Cu surface is very important in such experiments, since the presence of a very small amount of graphitic carbon on the Cu surface will cause nucleation of graphite rather than diamond. A similar method was reported by Narayan et al 6 , whereby the C ions were implanted into single crystalline Cu at room temperature, and the Cu was subsequently excimer laser-annealed to achieve monocrystalline films of diamond of about 50 nm thickness. Difficulties in reproducing these latter results are probably related to the critical laser pulse energy and duration, and to the fact that the diamond is buried near the Cu surface, so that delicate etching is required to reveal it.…”

Chemical Vapor Deposited Diamond

“…Recent publications report that single-crystal diamond can also be grown by ion implantation of carbon into a copper surface followed by an annealing process (12).…”