NIR- and VIS-raman spectroscopy of CVD diamond films

Raman spectroscopy is a widely used method for the analysis of CVD diamond layers, because it enables to distinguish between different carbon phases, such as diamond, graphite, amorphous carbon and nanocrystalline carbon, which are all commonly present in CVD diamond films. A comparison of visible Raman spectroscopy and near-infrared Raman spectroscopy applied to CVD diamond layers on various substrates (Si, SiAlON, Au, Pd, Mo, W and cemented carbides) has been carried out with the result that visible Raman spectroscopy can be preferably used for characterizing the diamond quality, but for the detection of non-diamond carbon phases NIR-Raman spectroscopy exhibits certain advantages. The NIR-Raman spectra of diamond on silicon substrates are interfered by thermal activation of the Si.Dedicated to Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. J.F.K. Huber on the occasion of his 70th birthday     

氢气流量对金刚石膜生长的影响研究

研究了电子辅助热灯丝法生长金刚石厚膜过程中氢气流量对沉积速度和膜品质的影响。随氢气流量从100增加到750cm^3/min，金刚石膜的沉积速率单调上升，但金刚石膜品质不断下降，从750到1000cm^3/min，金刚石膜沉积速率下降，但金刚石膜品质随氢气流量增加而提高。拉曼光谱和电子顺磁共振谱研究发现，在所制备的金刚石膜中含有替代形式的氮，氮含量随氢气流量的增加而减小，1000cm^3/min流量下沉积的金刚石膜的含氮量仅为100cm^3/min流量下沉积的金刚石膜的1／40。     

不同压力下碳氢体系低压金刚石的非平衡定态系列相图

系统压力是低压金刚石薄膜生长实验中重要的实验参数，如果采用合理的计算方法定量化地预测出压力对金刚石薄膜生长条件的影响，则可以直接用于指导其实验研究。本文报道根据非平衡热力学耦合理论模型绘制了C-H体系金刚石生长投影相图，经与大量实验结果比较相一致，并系统地计算了压力变化的碳氢体系金刚石生长非平衡定态截面相图，得到了金刚石生长区随压力变化的规律。计算得到的相图与经典平衡相图有本质不同，均有金刚石生长区，因而可以合理解决金刚石低压下连续生长而石墨被腐蚀与经典平衡热力学之间的矛盾。本文的计算结果可以为金刚石生长实验提供定量化的压力条件的选择和优化实验条件。     

脉冲电弧放电电离甲醇溶液制备碳膜的研究

利用脉冲电弧放电电离甲醇溶液在常压下研究了含金刚石成分的碳膜的制备。用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、傅里叶红外光谱(FT-IR)、激光Raman光谱和X射线衍射(XRD)研究了在确定的基片温度下甲醇浓度以及放电电压等沉积条件对薄膜的形貌和金刚石的合成的影响。研究结果表明：在放电电压低于2kV时，薄膜主要由无序石墨和无定形碳组成。提高放电电压有助于金刚石的合成，在高的放电电压下，降低甲醇溶液浓度有利于提高碳膜中金刚石成分的含量。     

Simultaneous growth of diamond and nanostructured graphite thin films by hot-filament chemical vapor deposition

Diamond and graphite films on silicon wafer were simultaneously synthesized at 850 °C without any additional catalyst. The synthesis was achieved in hot-filament chemical vapor deposition reactor by changing distance among filaments in traditional gas mixture. The inter-wire distance for diamond and graphite deposition was kept 5 and 15 mm, whereas kept constant from the substrate. The Raman spectroscopic analyses show that film deposited at 5 mm is good quality diamond and at 15 mm is nanostructured graphite and respective growths confirm by scanning auger electron microscopy. The scanning electron microscope results exhibit that black soot graphite is composed of needle-like nanostructures, whereas diamond with pyramidal featured structure. Transformation of diamond into graphite mainly attributes lacking in atomic hydrogen. The present study develops new trend in the field of carbon based coatings, where single substrate incorporate dual application can be utilized.     

Process study of thermal plasma chemical vapor deposition of diamond,part I: Substrate material,temperature, and methane concentration

Effects of process parameters on diamond film synthesis in DC thermal plasma jet reactors are discussed including substrate material, methane concentration and substrate temperature. Diamond has been deposited on silicon, molybdenum, tungsten, tantalum, copper, nickel, titanium, and stainless steel. The adhesion of diamond film to the substrate is greatly affected by the type of substrate used. It has been found that the methane concentration strongly affects the grain size of the diamond films. Increased methane concentrations result in smaller grain sizes due to the increased number of secondary nucleations on the existing facets of diamond crystals. Substrate temperature has a strong effect on the morphology of diamond films. With increasing substrate temperature, the predominant orientation of the crystal growth planes changes from the (111) to the (100) planes. Studies of the variation of the film quality across the substrate due to the nonuniformity of thermal plasma jets indicate that microcrystalline graphite formation starts at the corners and edges of diamond crystals when the conditions become unfavorable for diamond deposition.     

Study of the Interface Microstructures of CVD Diamond Films by TEM

 The characteristics of the interface microstructures between a CVD diamond film and the silicon substrate have been studied by transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy. The investigations are performed on plan-view TEM specimens which were intentionally thinned only from the film surface side allowing the overall microstructural features of the interface to be studied. A prominent interfacial layer with amorphous-like features has been directly observed for CVD diamond films that shows a highly twinned defective diamond surface morphology. Similar interfacial layers have also been observed on films with a <100> growth texture but having the {100} crystal faces randomly oriented on the silicon substrate. These interfacial layers have been unambiguously identified as diamond phase carbon by both electron diffraction and electron energy loss spectroscopy. For the CVD diamond films that exhibit heteroepitaxial growth features, with the {100} crystal faces aligned crystallographically on the silicon substrate, such an interfacial layer was not observed. This is consistent with the expectation that the epitaxial growth of CVD diamond films requires diamond crystals to directly nucleate and grow on the substrate surface or on an epitaxial interface layer that has a small lattice misfit to both the substrate and the thin film material.     

Phosphorus carbides: theory and experiment

The recent finding that radio frequency plasma activation of CH(4)/PH(3) gas mixtures can yield films with P : C ratios < or = 3 has served to trigger further research into new 'phosphorus carbide' materials. Theoretical and experimental results relating to periodic and amorphous materials, respectively, are presented here: (i) The electronic structure and stability of different crystalline phosphorus carbide P(x)C(y) phases have been studied using first-principles density-functional theory. Calculations have been carried out for P(4)C(3+8 n) (n= 0-4), PC, and PC(3) and the most likely periodic structures examined in detail. Particular attention is paid to the composition PC(3), for which there are several possibilities of similar energy. (ii) Recent experimental efforts have involved use of pulsed laser ablation methods to produce hydrogen-free phosphorus carbide thin films. Mechanically hard, electrically conducting diamond like carbon films containing 0- approximately 26 at.% P have been deposited on both Si and quartz substrates by 193 nm PLA of graphite/phosphorus targets (containing varying percentages of phosphorus), at a range of substrate temperatures (T(sub)= 298-700 K), in vacuum, and analysed via laser Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.     

Thermodynamics of diamond nucleation on the nanoscale

To have a clear insight into the diamond nucleation upon the hydrothermal synthesis and the reduction of carbide (HSRC), we performed the thermodynamic approach on the nanoscale to elucidate the diamond nucleation taking place in HSRC supercritical-fluid systems taking into account the capillary effect of the nanosized curvature of the diamond critical nuclei, based on the carbon thermodynamic equilibrium phase diagram. These theoretical analyses showed that the nanosize-induced interior pressure of diamond nuclei could drive the metastable phase region of the diamond nucleation in HSRC into the new stable phase region of diamond in the carbon phase diagram. Accordingly, the diamond nucleation is preferable to the graphite phase formation in the competing growth between diamond and graphite upon HSRC. Meanwhile, we predicted that 400 MPa should be the threshold pressure for the diamond synthesis by HSRC in the metastable phase region of diamond, based on the proposed thermodynamic nucleation on the nanoscale.     

Gas sensing using edge-plane pyrolytic-graphite electrodes: electrochemical reduction of chlorine

The voltammetric responses of chlorine in aqueous acid solutions have been explored using different carbon-based electrodes. Edge-plane pyrolytic graphite has more electrochemical reversibility than glassy carbon, basal-plane pyrolytic graphite, or boron-doped diamond electrodes. A significant reduction in the overpotential is observed on the edge-plane pyrolytic-graphite electrode in contrast with the other carbon-based electrode substrates. These results suggest that edge-plane pyrolytic graphite can be optimally used as the working electrodes in Clark-cell devices for low-potential amperometric gas sensing of Cl₂.     

Electroanalytical Exploitation of Nitroso Phenyl Modified Carbon‐Thiol Interactions: Application to the Low Voltage Determination of Thiols

The electrochemical generation of nitrosophenyl groups covalently attached to graphite powder (nitrosophenylcarbon) from carbon powder chemically modified with nitrophenyl groups and their subsequent reaction with thiols (glutathione, cysteine and homocysteine) has been investigated as a method by which the later can be quantified. The modified carbon powder was immobilized onto a basal plane pyrolytic graphite electrode and characterized by cyclic voltammetry by scanning between 1.0 V and ?1.0 V vs. SCE in phosphate buffer (pH 7). Square wave voltammetry (SWV) was used for the determination of thiols and the SWV parameters were optimized. The nitrosophenylcarbon is electrogenerated from nitrophenylcarbon and can chemically oxidize thiols to disulfides. Subsequent reduction of nitrosophenylcarbon to phenylhydroxylaminecarbon during the square wave voltammetric process leads to a decrease in the reductive current. This can be correlated to the concentration of thiol present within the medium. The cyclic voltammetric responses of basal plane pyrolytic graphite electrode, edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrode, glassy carbon electrode and boron‐doped diamond electrode in the direct oxidation of thiols were also investigated and all were found to have a significantly higher overpotential compared to the described method using nitrosophenylcarbon.     

Physico-chemical synthesis of diamond in metastable range

The present paper discusses the synthesis of diamond in its metastable region from carbonaceous gases, in particular methane. The diamond synthesis on seed crystals is made possible owing to the orientation effect of surface forces on the formation of a new phase. Discussed is also the joint crystallization of diamond and graphite. The basic experiments were made on highly dispersed diamond powders. The growth of diamond in kinetic and diffusion regions has been studied. Presented are results of studying the fractionation of stable carbon isotopes when growing a diamond.     

Edge Plane Pyrolytic Graphite Electrodes for Halide Detection in Aqueous Solutions

The behavior of chloride, bromide and iodide at edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes has been explored in aqueous acid solutions. The voltammetric response in each case has been compared with that of basal plane pyrolytic graphite, glassy carbon and boron‐doped diamond. The electrochemical oxidation of chloride is found to only occur on boron‐doped diamond while the electrochemical reversibility for the oxidation of bromide on edge plane pyrolytic graphite is similar to that seen at glassy carbon whilst being superior to basal plane pyrolytic graphite and boron‐doped diamond. In the case of iodide oxidation, edge plane and basal plane pyrolytic graphite and glassy carbon display similar electrode kinetics but are all superior to boron‐doped diamond. The analytical possibilities were examined using the edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrode for both iodide and bromine where is was found that, based on cyclic voltammetry, detection limits in the order of 10^?6 M are possible.     

高功率准分子激光沉积类金刚石膜的结构及性能

采用高功率和高频率准分子激光器在高真空及H₂和N₂气氛下沉积类金刚石膜.利用Raman光谱和电子衍射方法分析了膜的微结构.Raman光谱呈典型DLC膜的特征,G峰位于1528cm^-1,D峰位于1327cm^-1,为一大的肩峰,电子衍射图象呈多晶电子衍射特征,可观察到5个同心圆环,由此计算出的面间距与金刚石(111),(200),(220),(331)和(332)面间距相符.红外吸收光谱测量结果表明,在Ge片上单面镀类金刚石膜具有明显的红外增透效果,在1000～3000cm^-1范围内红外透过率达到55%以上.用原子力显微镜和SEM观察了表面形貌,用显微硬度计和显微划痕仪测试了膜的硬度与附着力.     

Time-resolved infrared spectroscopy as an in situ tool to study the kinetics during self-assembly of mesostructured films

Rapid scan time-resolved infrared spectroscopy has been used to investigate in situ the kinetics of the chemical processes involved in the formation of self-assembled mesostructured films. The experiments have been done in transmission mode on films cast on a diamond disk using an infrared microscope. Two specific materials have been studied: silica and titania mesoporous films templated by a triblock copolymer surfactant (Pluronic F-127). The time dependence of solvent evaporation and condensation of the chemical species have been clearly observed. Different stages in the film formation have been identified, which support well the general theory of self-assembly. The in situ FTIR spectroscopy using time-resolved rapid scan has proven to be a very effective tool for in situ analysis of film formation from a liquid phase.     

AFM investigation of silicon substrates for chemical vapour deposition of diamond films

AFM has been used to study surface modifications on silicon (100) substrates for CVD diamond deposition during bias pretreatment in a hot-filament reactor under various conditions. Both topographical images, force-distance measurements and chemical etching with HF have been implemented to obtain information on the processes involved. The results show, that the observed roughening, which strongly depends on the gas phase composition, is caused by chemical etching of the surface dominated by removal of elemental silicon via formation of silicon hydride.     

Hydrogenated polycrystalline diamond films: Elastic and inelastic electron reflectivity

The microstructure and properties of carbon-based thin films depend on the deposition process and conditions used, including pressure, gas phase composition, and substrate temperature, as well as the energy of the reactive species (atoms or ions). For instance concerning diamond films, each method results in different type of films which may differ in terms of diamond grain size (from nano to micro), grain boundary nature, hydrogen content, defect density, amorphous or graphitic components, morphological properties and different chemical and physical properties. Among them, the well-known negative electron affinity, very attractive for the detection and emission of electrons, and high conductivity of diamond surfaces are properties of fully hydrogenated diamond surfaces. Similarly, diamond grain size may influence the electronic and optical properties of the films. More generally the chemical and physical characterization of the uppermost surface atomic layer of diamond films presents a great challenge.In this review we present results on hydrogen bonding configuration in hydrogenated polycrystalline diamond films of varying size (few nanometers up to micrometers) obtained by high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS). More precisely we will present energy loss spectra extended up to 800 meV, as well as elastic and inelastic reflectivity curves (associated to different vibrational modes of hydrogenated diamond surfaces), measured over the 3–18 eV electron energy range. We will show in particular that due to the specific features of diamond bulk electronic band structure, which is maintained up to the surface in the case of fully hydrogenated diamond, it is possible to extract from these data valuable information about the surface properties and composition such as diamond or graphitic like nature of the films, surface versus lattice nature of the vibrational modes.     

Phase stability of nanocarbon in one dimension: nanotubes versus diamond nanowires

Since their discovery in 1990, the study of sp2 bonded carbon nanotubes has grown into a field of research in it's own right; however the development of the sp3 analog, diamond nanowires, has been slow. A number of theoretical models have been proposed to compare the relative stability of diamond and graphite at the nanoscale; and more recently, to compare nanodiamonds and fullerenes. Presented here is a study of the phase stability of nanocarbon in one-dimension. The structural energies of carbon nanotubes and diamond nanowires have been calculated using density functional theory within the generalized gradient approximation, and used to determine the atomic heat of formation as a function of size.     

Exploration of gas sensing possibilities with edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes: nitrogen dioxide detection

The voltammetric response of nitrogen dioxide in aqueous sulfuric acid using an edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrode has been explored and contrasted with that from basal plane pyrolytic graphite, glassy carbon or boron-doped diamond electrodes. Edge plane graphite electrode is found to produce an excellent voltammetric signal in comparison with other carbon-based electrodes exhibiting a well-defined analytically useful voltammetric redox couple in 2.5 M sulfuric acid which is absent on the alternative electrodes.     

Electrochemical Response of Cobalt(II) in the Presence of Ammonia

The electrochemical oxidation of cobalt(II) at gold, boron‐doped diamond, basal and edge plane pyrolytic graphite, and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite electrodes in aqueous solutions containing NH₃ has been studied using cyclic voltammetry, with subsequent chemical and electrochemical processes explained in detail. Furthermore, the electro‐reduction of [Co(NH₃)₆]³⁺ in the presence of different electrolytes has also been studied to obtain a better understanding of the oxidation pathway of the Co(II)‐ammine complexes. In aqueous solution the mechanism can be described by the following scheme: