Effects of Al and Ti/Cu on Synthesis of Type-IIa Diamond Crystals in Ni70Mn25Co5-C System at HPHT

High-quality type-Ⅱa gem diamond crystals are successfully synthesized in a NiToMn25Co5-C system by temperature gradient method （TGM） at about 5.5 GPa and 1560 K. Al and Ti/Cu are used as nitrogen getters respectively. While nitrogen getter Al or Ti/Cu is added into the synthesis system, some inclusions and caves tend to be introduced into the crystals. When Al is added into the solvent alloy, we would hardly gain high-quality type-Ⅱa diamond crystals with nitrogen concentration Nc 〈 1 ppm because of the reversible reaction of Al and N at high pressure and high temperature （HPHT）. Piowever, when Ti/Cu is added into the solvent alloy, high-quality type-Ⅱa diamond crystals with Nc 〈 1 ppm can be grown by decreasing the growth rate of diamonds.     

Effect of Regrown Graphite on the Growth of Large Gem Diamonds by Temperature Gradient Method

Generally, when growing high-quality large gem diamond crystals by temperature gradient method under high pressure and high temperature, the crystal growth rate is only determined by the temperature gradient. However, we find that the seed crystal cannot completely absorb all the diffused carbon sources, when growing gem diamonds under a higher temperature gradient. Other influence factors appear, and the growth rate of growing diamonds is partly dependent on the crystalline form of superfluous unabsorbed carbon source, flaky regrown graphite or small diamond crystals nucleated spontaneously. The present form is determined by the growth temperature if the pressure is fixed. Different from spontaneous diamond nuclei, the appearance of regrown graphite in the diamondstable region can retard the growth rate of gem diamonds substantially, even if the temperature gradient keeps unchanged. On the other hand, the formation mechanism of metastable regrown graphite in the diamond-stable region is also explained.     

Finite Element Analysis of Convection in Growth Cell for Diamond Growth Using Ni-Based Solvent

Thermal-electricaJ-fluid coupled finite element analyses are performed in the model of the growth cell in a high-pressure and high-temperature （HPHT） cubic apparatus in which the large diamond crystal can be grown by using Ni-based solvent with temperature gradient method （TGM）. The convection in the Ni-based solvent with different thicknesses at 1700-1800 K is simulated by finite element method （FEM）. The experiments of diamond crystal growth are also carried out by using Ni-based solvent at 5.7GPa and 1700-1800K in a China-type cubic high pressure apparatus （CHPA）. The simulation results show that the Rayleigh number in the solvent is enhanced obviously with the increasing solvent thickness. Good quality diamond single crystal cannot be grown if the Rayleigh number in the solvent is too high.     

Hetero-Epitaxial Diamond Single Crystal Growth on Surface of cBN Single Crystals at High Pressure and High Temperature

We report a new diamond synthesis process in which cubic boron nitride single crystals are used as seeds, FesoNi20 alloy powder is used as catalyst/solvent and natural flake-like graphite is used as the carbon source. The samples are investigated using laser Raman spectra and x-ray diffraction （XRD）. Morphology of the sample is observed by a scanning electron microscope （SEM）. Based on the measurement results, we conclude that diamond single crystals have grown on the cBN crystal seeds under the conditions of high temperature 1230℃ and high pressure 4.8 GPa. This work provides an original method for synthesis of high quality hereto-semiconductor with cBN and diamond single crystals, and paves the way for future development.     

Characterization of a growth-front interface in a HPHT-grown diamond crystal by transmission electron microscopy

The growth-front interface of a diamond single crystal, which was grown from the Fe-Ni-C system under high pressure and high temperature (HPHT), has been directly observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for the first time. The presence of a cellular interface suggests that the diamond is grown from solution and there exists a narrow supercooling zone in front of the solid–liquid interface. Diamond-growth parallel layers were also found, which indicates that the diamond grows from solution layer by layer. It provides direct evidence that the diamond is synthesized through graphite dissolution and transformation to subcritical diamond particles in a molten catalyst, diamond subcritical particle connection to form diamond clusters, diffusion of the diamond clusters to the growing diamond, and unification of the diamond clusters on the growing diamond crystal. Received: 17 July 2000 / Accepted: 27 October 2000 / Published online: 10 January 2001     

Shape-controlled synthesis of diamond crystal by epitaxial growth under high pressure and high temperature conditions

In this paper, the diamond epitaxial growth mechanism has been studied in detail by employing several types of diamond as a seed in a catalyst-graphite system under high pressure and high temperature (HPHT) conditions. We find that the diamond nucleation, growth rate, crystal orientation, and morphology are significantly influenced by the original seeds. The smooth surfaces of seeds are beneficial for the fabrication of high-quality diamond. Our results reveal that the diamond morphology is mainly determined by the original shape of seeds in the early growth stage, but it has an adjustment process during the growth and leads to well symmetry. Additionally, we have also established the growth model for the twinned diamond grown on several seeds, and proposed the possible growth processes by tracking the particular shapes of seeds before and after treatment under HPHT conditions. These results suggest that the shape-controlled synthesis of diamond with well morphology can be realized by employing certain suitable diamond seeds. This work is expected to play an important role in the preparation of trustworthy diamond-based electronic and photonic devices.     

Atom force microscopy study on HTHP as-grown diamond single crystals

For understanding the mechanism of diamond growth at high temperature–high pressure (HTHP) from a metallic catalyst–graphite system, it is of great interest to perform atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiments, which provide a unique technique different from that of normal optical and electronic microscopy studies, to study the topography of HTHP as-grown diamond single crystals. In the present paper, we report first AFM results on diamond single crystals grown from a Fe-Ni-C system at HTHP to reveal the growth mechanism of diamond single crystals at HTHP. AFM images for as-grown diamond samples show dark etch pits on the (111) surface, indicating dislocations. Some fine particles about 100–300 nm in dimension were directly observed on the (100) diamond surface. These particles are believed to have been formed through transition of graphite to diamond under the effect of the catalyst and to have been transported to the growing diamond surface through a metallic thin film by diffusion. The roughness of the (100) diamond surface is found to be about several tens of nanometers through profile analysis. The diamond growth at HTHP, in a sense, could be considered as a process of unification of these fine diamond particles or of carbon-atom-cluster recombination on the growing diamond crystal surface. Successive growth interlayer steps on the (111) diamond surface were systemically examined. The heights of the growth interlayer steps were measured by sectional analysis. It was shown that the heights of the growth interlayer steps are quite different and range from about 10 to 25 nm. The source of the interlayer steps might be dislocations. The diamond-growth mechanism at HTHP could be indicated by the AFM topography of the fine diamond particles and the train-growth interlayer steps on the as-grown diamond surfaces. Received: 29 March 2001 / Accepted: 20 August 2001 / Published online: 2 October 2001     

Studying the effect of hydrogen on diamond growth by adding C10H10Fe under high pressures and high temperatures

In this paper, hydrogen-doped industrial diamonds and gem diamonds were synthesized in the Fe–Ni–C system with C₁₀H₁₀Fe additive, high pressures and high temperatures range of 5.2–6.2?GPa and 1250–1460°C. Experimental results indicate similar effect of hydrogen on these two types of diamonds: with the increasing content of C₁₀H₁₀Fe added in diamond growth environment, temperature is a crucial factor that sensitively affects the hydrogen-doped diamond crystallization. The temperature region for high-quality diamond growth becomes higher and the morphology of diamond crystal changes from cube-octahedral to octahedral. The defects on the {100} surfaces of diamond are more than those on the {111} surfaces. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results indicate that the hydrogen atoms enter into the diamond crystal lattice from {100} faces more easily. Most interestingly, under low temperature, nitrogen atoms can also easily enter into the diamond crystal lattice from {100} faces cooperated with hydrogen atoms.     

Simulation of polycrystalline 3D film growth: An investigation of the evolution of grain size and texture in diamond films

An analytical method for simulating gas phase film growth has been developed and used to study the growth of diamond films during prolonged deposition, i.e. the film thickness is much larger than the lateral grain size. From a model system composed of 10⁴ grains, reliable results can be evaluated for the growth of diamond films by (111) and (001) deposition under different initial conditions and with varying growth parameters. It is demonstrated that the rate of structure evolution is sensitively influenced by the aspect ratio of diamond crystal. A near-linear proportionality between the average grain size and the thickness of films can be approximately yielded for a large film thickness which is about 10 times of the average distance of the nuclei. The proportionality constant varies for a statistical nucleation from 0.0056 to 0.43 by changing the aspect ratio. Furthermore, the orientational distribution is drastically narrowed down so that the probability of coalescence of grains with a slight orientational difference is considerably increased. Received: 28 September 2000 / Accepted: 19 February 2001 / Published online: 3 May 2001     

Effect of Carbon Source with Different Graphitization Degrees on the Synthesis of Diamond

Using three kinds of graphites with different graphitization degrees as carbon source and Fe-Ni alloy powder as catalyst, the synthesis of diamond crystals is performed in a cubic anvil high-pressure and high-temperature apparatus （SPD-6 × 1200）. Diamond crystals with perfect hexoctahedron shape are successfully synthesized at pressure from 5.0 to 5.5GPa and at temperature from 1570 to 1770K. The synthetic conditions, nucleation, morphology, inclusion and granularity of diamond crystals are studied. The temperature and pressure increase with the increase of the graphitization degree of graphite. The quantity of nucleation and granularity ofdiamonds decreases with the increase of graphitization degree of graphite under the same synthesis conditions. Moreover, according to the results of the M6ssbauer spectrum, the composition of inclusions is mainly Fe3 C and Fe-Ni alloy phases in diamond crystals synthesized with three kinds of graphites.     

Novel technique for hetero-epitaxial diamond film growth on cubic boron nitride from iron carbide at high temperature and high pressure

Cubic boron nitride (c-BN) crystals about 0.1–0.3 mmin dimension were treated with iron carbide powders (high purity 99%) with size of 80–100 mesh at a high temperature of 1620 K and a high pressure of 5.2 GPa. It was found that hetero-epitaxial diamond films have been grown on the c-BN from iron carbide. The formation of dia-mond films on the cubic boron nitride can be confirmed by laser Raman spectra, face scan of elements and reflective high-energy electron diffraction. It was suggested that diamond films could be epitaxially formed on the c-BN through decomposition of iron carbide. This approach provides a possible and very effective way to realize hetero-epitaxial growth of homogeneous and large-area diamond films on c-BN, which is different from the conventional technique using a chemical vapor deposition method. Received: 20 December 2000 / Accepted: 9 January 2001 / Published online: 28 February 2001     

HPHT Synthesis of Different Shape Coarse-Grain Diamond Single Crystals

Synthesis of coarse-grain diamond crystals is studied in a China-type SPD6× 1670T cubic high-pressure apparatus with high exact control system. To synthesize high quality coarse-grain diamond crystals, advanced indirect heat assembly, powder catalyst technology and optimized synthesis craft are used. At last, three kinds of coarse- grain diamond （about 0.85 mm） single crystals with hexahedron, hex-octahedron and octahedron are synthesized successfully under HPHT （about 5.4 GPa, 1300-1450℃）. The growth characters of different shape crystals are discussed. The results and techniques might be useful for the production of coarse-grain diamonds.     

A New Dopant of NaN3 for High-Concentration-Nitrogen Diamond Synthesized by HPHT

Nitrogen is successfully doped in diamond by adding sodium azide （NaN3 ） as the source of nitrogen to the graphite and iron powders. The diamond crystals with high nitrogen concentration, 1000-2200ppm, which contain the same concentrations of nitrogen with natural diamond, have been synthesized by using the system of iron-carbon- additive NAN3. The nitrogen concentrations in diamond increase with the increasing content of NAN3. When the content of NaN3 is increased to 0.7-1.3 wt. %, the nitrogen concentration in the diamond almost remains in a nitrogen concentration range from 1250ppm to 2200ppm, which is the highest value and several times higher than that in the diamond synthesized by a conventional method without additive NaN3 under high pressure and high temperature （HPHT） conditions.     

国产六面顶压机多晶种法合成宝石级金刚石单晶

对国产六面顶压机平台下使用多晶种法合成宝石级金刚石单晶进行了系统的研究. 通过合理调整温度梯度法的合成腔体组装, 采用多晶种法, 探索多晶种法金刚石合成的压力和温度区间, 在单个合成腔体内放置3–5颗金刚石晶种, 成功合成出多颗(3–5)优质Ib型宝石级金刚石单晶. 多颗晶种的引入, 单次实验合成的多个金刚石晶体晶形及品质一致; 同时, 晶体的整体生长速度也有明显的增大. 多晶种法金刚石单晶合成的研究, 可以有效地利用腔体空间、提高单次金刚石单晶合成的效率, 解决压机大型化下高温高压资源利用率低的问题; 同时, 为宝石级金刚石单晶商业化生产提供重要的依据. 关键词： 金刚石 国产六面顶 多晶种 温度梯度法     

Effects of additive NaN_3 on the HPHT synthesis of large single crystal diamond grown by TGM

In this paper,large single crystal diamond with perfect shape and high nitrogen concentration approximately 1671-1742 ppm was successfully synthesized by temperature gradient method (TGM) under high pressure and high temperature (HPHT).The HPHT synthesis conditions were about 5.5 GPa and 1500-1550 K.Sodium azide (NaN3) with different amount was added as the source of nitrogen into the synthesis system of high pure graphite and kovar alloy.The effects of additive NaN3 on crystal growth habit were investigated in detail.The crystal morphology,nitrogen concentration and existing form in synthetic diamond were characterized by means of scanning electron microscope (SEM) and infrared (IR) absorption spectra,respectively.The results show that with an increase of the content of NaN3 added in the synthesis system,the region of synthesis temperature for high-quality diamond becomes narrow,and crystal growth rate is restricted,whereas the nitrogen concentration in synthetic diamond increases.Nitrogen exists in diamond mainly in dispersed form (C-centers) and partially aggregated form (A-centers).The defects occur more frequently on crystal surface when excessive NaN3 is added in the synthesis system.     

Formation of palladium silicide by rapid thermal annealing

The formation of palladium silicide Pd₂Si by rapid thermal annealing of Pd layers on silicon has been studied as a function of annealing time (1–60s) in the temperature range 350–500 °C. It is shown that the results found for conventional furnace annealing (long duration, low temperature) can be extrapolated for rapid thermal annealing (shorter time, higher temperature) when taking into account the exact time dependence of the short temperature cycle. The growth rate is essentially diffusion limited and the activation energy is close to 1.1±0.1 eV. Silicide resistivity of about 30–40 cm was obtained for 200–400 nm thick Pd₂Si layers formed at 400 °C for a few seconds.     

A relation between a metallic film covering on diamond formed during growth and nanosized inclusions in HPHT as-grown diamond single crystals

One of the most important characteristics and basic phenomena during diamond growth from liquid metal catalyst solutions saturated with carbon at high temperature–high pressure (HPHT) is that there exists a thin metallic film covering on the growing diamond, through which carbon-atom clusters are delivered to the surface of the growing diamond by diffusion. A study of microstructures of such a metallic film and a relation between the thin metallic film and the inclusions trapped in HPHT as-grown diamond single crystals may be helpful to obtain high-purity diamond single crystals. It was found that both the metallic film and the HPHT as-grown diamond single crystals contain some nanostructured regions. Examination by transmission electron microscopy suggests that the microstructure of the thin metallic film is in accordance with nanosized particles contained in HPHT as-grown diamond single crystals. The nanosized particles with several to several tens of nanometers in dimension distribute homogeneously in the metallic film and in the diamond matrix. Generally, the size of the particles in the thin metallic film is relatively larger than that within the diamond matrix. Selected area electron diffraction patterns suggest that the nanosized particles in the metallic film and nanometer inclusions within the diamond are mainly composed of f.c.c. (FeNi)₂₃C₆, hexagonal graphite and cubic γ-(FeNi). The formation of the nanosized inclusions within the diamond single crystals is thought not only to relate to the growth process and rapid quenching from high temperature after diamond synthesis, but also to be associated with large amounts of defects in the diamond, because the free energy in these defect areas is very high. The critical size of carbide, γ-(FeNi)and graphite particles within the diamond matrix should decrease and not increase according to thermodynamic theory during quenching from HPHT to room temperature and ambient pressure. Received: 13 September 2001 / Accepted: 12 June 2002 / Published online: 17 December 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +86-0531/295-5081; E-mail: yinlw@sdu.edu.cn     

籽晶尺寸对宝石级金刚石单晶生长的影响

本文在国产六面顶压机上,在5.6 GPa, 1250—1450℃的高压高温条件下,分别选用边长0.8, 1.5和2.2 mm三种尺寸的籽晶,系统开展了Ib型宝石级金刚石单晶的生长研究.文中系统考察了籽晶尺寸对宝石级金刚石单晶生长的影响.首先,考察了籽晶尺寸变化对宝石级金刚石单晶裂晶问题带来的影响.研究得到了籽晶尺寸变大,裂晶出现概率增加的晶体生长规律.其次,在25 h的生长时间内,考察了上述三种尺寸籽晶生长金刚石单晶时,生长时间与单晶极限生长速度的关系.得到了选用大尺寸籽晶,可以提高优质单晶合成效率、降低合成成本的研究结论.借助扫描电子显微镜和光学显微镜,对三种尺寸籽晶生长金刚石单晶的表面形貌进行了标定.最后,傅里叶微区红外测试,对三种尺寸籽晶生长宝石级金刚石单晶的N杂质含量进行了表征.研究得到了选用大尺寸籽晶实现快速生长金刚石的同时,晶体的N杂质含量会随之升高的晶体生长规律.     

B2O3添加宝石级金刚石单晶的生长特性

利用温度梯度法, 在5.3-5.7 GPa压力、1200-1600 ℃的温度条件下, 将B₂O₃粉添加到FeNiMnCo+C合成体系内, 进行B₂O₃添加宝石级金刚石单晶的合成. 研究得到了FeNiMnCo触媒生长B₂O₃添加宝石级金刚石单晶的相图分布规律. 结果表明B₂O₃添加会使晶体生长的“V”形区上移和低温六面体单晶生长区间变宽. 通过晶体生长实验, 研究合成了不同形貌的B₂O₃添加宝石级金刚石单晶. 研究同时证实, B₂O₃的过量添加会对宝石级金刚石单晶生长带来不利影响. 当B₂O₃的添加量高于约3 wt‰、生长时间超过20 h时, 很难实现优质B₂O₃添加宝石级金刚石单晶的生长. 但B₂O₃的适量添加(不超过1 wt‰), 有助于提高低温板状六面体宝石级金刚石单晶的成品率. 通过对晶体生长速度的研究发现, B₂O₃的添加使得优质晶体的生长速度明显降低, 随着晶体生长时间的延长, B₂O₃添加剂对晶体生长的抑制作用会越发明显. 扫描电镜测试结果表明, 合成体系内B₂O₃添加剂的引入, 导致晶体表面的平整度明显下降.     

Surface Structure of Large Synthetic Diamonds by High Temperature and High Pressure

With NiMnCo and FeCoNi alloys as solvent metals, large single-crystal diamonds of about 3mm across are grown by temperature gradient method （TGM） under high temperature and high pressure （HPHT）. Although both {100} and {111} surfaces are developed by a layer growth mechanism, some different characteristic patterns are seen clearly on the different surfaces, no matter whether NiMnCo or FeCoNi alloys are taken as the solvent metals. For {100} surface, it seems to have been melted or etched greatly, no dendritic patterns to be found, and only a large number of growth hillocks are dispersed net-likely; while for {111} surface, it often seems to be more smooth-faced, no etched or melted traces are present even when a lot of depressed trigonal growth layers. This distinct difference between {111} and {100} surfaces is considered to be related to the difference of surface-atom distribution of different surfaces, and {111} surfaces should be more difficult to be etched and more steady than {100} surfaces.