Novel techniques for the prepartion of synthetic diamond

Abstract

The objectives of this work are two fold: (1) to study the effect of using oxygen-acetylene flame grown synthetic diamond as seed crystals for the high pressure-high temperature conversion of graphite into diamond and (2) to demonstrate the ability to produce small crystallites of diamond by a simple, electron beam evaporation technique. In each case, the production of diamond from graphite was confirmed.     

The structure of diamond nanoclusters

A model describing the structure of diamond nanoclusters produced by explosive shocks is proposed. The model is based on experimental data obtained from x-ray diffraction and small-angle x-ray scattering. This model considers the diamond nanocluster as a crystalline diamond core coated by a carbon shell having a fractal structure. The shell structure depends both on the cooling kinetics of the detonation products and on the method used to extract from them the diamond fraction. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 740–743 (April 1999)     

Determination of the thermal conductivity of polycrystalline diamond films by means of the photoacoustic effect

A new method of determining the heat-conducting properties of diamond films is proposed, based on the photoacoustic effect. This method is used to study diamond polycrystalline films grown on silicon by chemical vapor deposition in a microwave discharge plasma. The thermal conductivity obtained was approximately half that for single-crystal diamond. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 97–101 (April 1999)     

Photoacoustic spectroscopy of diamond powders and polycrystalline films

Photoacoustic spectroscopy is used to study optical absorption in diamond powders and polycrystalline films. The photoacoustic spectra of diamond powders with crystallite sizes in the range from ∼100 μm to 4 nm and diamond films grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) had a number of general characteristic features corresponding to the fundamental absorption edge for light with photon energies exceeding the width of the diamond band gap (∼5.4 eV) and to absorption in the visible and infrared by crystal-structure defects and the presence of non-diamond carbon. For samples of thin (∼10 μm) diamond films on silicon, the photoacoustic spectra revealed peculiarities associated with absorption in the silicon substrate of light transmitted by the diamond film. The shape of the spectral dependence of the amplitude of the photoacoustic signal in the ultraviolet indicates considerable scattering of light specularly reflected from the randomly distributed faces of the diamond crystallites both in the polycrystalline films and in the powders. The dependence of the shape of the photoacoustic spectra on the light modulation frequency allows one to estimate the thermal conductivity of the diamond films, which turns out to be significantly lower than the thermal conductivity of single-crystal diamond. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 1787–1791 (October 1997)     

Two-photon-excited luminescence spectra in diamond nanocrystals

Two-photon-excited luminescence (TEL) spectra have been recorded in the blue (400–500 nm) and near-ultraviolet (300–400 nm) ranges for diamond particles with 4 nm average size, which were obtained by detonation synthesis from explosives. The observed TEL bands are attributed, by comparing the obtained spectra with the impurity luminescence spectra in large diamond crystals, to N2 and N3 defects associated with the presence of nitrogen impurities in diamond. The TEL spectra presented are found to have certain distinguishing features: short-wavelength shift of the maximum and changes in the shape and width of the spectral bands for ultradispersed diamond compared with the spectrum in bulk crystals. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 1110–1112 (June 1999)     

Growth of diamond thin film on tool materials from a gas phase

Abstract

In the present paper, diamond films have been synthesized on tungsten carbide, sintered diamond and high pressure diamond by hot filament chemical vapour deposition method from the mixture gas of methane and hydrogen, and growth features of diamond were studied.     

Reactions and stresses in polycrystalline diamond-metal and diamond-carbide compacts

Abstract

The kind of bonding phase has a significant influence on the microstructure and mechanical properties of diamond compacts. Microstructural studies of diamond with 5% wt. Ti and 5%wt. Tic (and also 30%wt. Tic) were carried out with a Transmission Electron Microscope. The TEM microstructural observations show differences between the metal and metal carbide bonding phase in diamond compacts. The mismatch of thermal expansion coefficients between diamond and the bonding metal or the compound induces significant internal stresses and may generate micro-cracks in polycrystalline diamond compacts. Twins and dislocations are the important details of microstructures in diamond crystals after HPHT sintering. They can appear as a result of residual stress relaxation. Results of measurements of residual stresses on a diamond compact surface by means of the “sin²ψ X-ray diffraction method are reported.     

Development of superhard materials,sintered diamond and cubic boron nitride

Abstract

Recent advances on the preparation technique of sintered diamond and cubic boron nitride containing small amount of sintering additives having superior thermal and mechanical properties is reviewed. Sintered diamond of lower metallic content (1–5 vol%) shows high hardness (100–150 GPa) and high electrical resistivity (10⁸ ohm-cm) at room temperature. Reaction sintered cubic boron nitride contained 1–3 mole % of magnesium boron nitride shows high thermal conductivity. (7 watt/cm K at RT)     

Deep-ultraviolet near band-edge emissions from nano-polycrystalline diamond

ABSTRACT

Deep-ultraviolet continuous-wave photoluminescence spectroscopy is performed for nano-polycrystalline diamond (NPD) synthesized by a high pressure high-temperature technique. NPD exhibits clear deep-ultraviolet emissions, which originate from intrinsic excitonic transitions assisted by a momentum-conserving phonon with a photon. Surprisingly, the peak emission energy is about 30?meV higher than that of the single-crystalline diamond. Raman scattering spectroscopy indicates that the energy difference should originate from the excitonic properties of the NPD and not the phonon. Hence, NPD has a large bandgap compared to single-crystalline diamond.     

On compressibility of osmium metal

On the basis of the high-pressure diamond anvil cell experiments on Os metal, Cynn et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 135701-1 (2002)] have reported that this metal has lower compressibility than diamond. In the present work we have reanalysed the experimental data of Cynn et al. We find that the bulk moduli of Os and diamond are close to each other, implying that Os metal is as incompressible as diamond, but not more so. Our first principles total energy calculations using the full potential linearised augmented plane wave method on Os and diamond also suggest the same results.     

Peculiarities of phase transitions when synthesizing diamond in high pressure apparatus of various types

Abstract

The influence of P, T-parmeters and duration of heat when synthesizing diamond in high pressure apparatus both of recessed anvil-type and cylindrical type (belt-type) on properties of diamond powders was studied. The dependence of pressure in reaction cells on temperature of force elements of apparatus in initial state and on efficiency of high pressure production in a reaction cell before heating was shown.     

Melting behaviors of carbon underhigh pressures

Abstract

The melting behaviors of graphite and diamond were investigated at pressures up to 25 GPa using flash-heating method. By rapid heating, the metastable graphite was melted in the diamond stable P-T field, competing with its conversion to diamond in the rate of reaction. For the diamond the pressure dependence of inserted energy required to reach the molten state suggested that the melting temperature of diamond increases with pressure.     

Ion-implanted buried layer in diamond as a source of ballistic phonons at liquid-helium temperatures

It is shown that an approximately 150 nm thick ion-implanted buried layer in diamond and excited by a pulsed laser at wavelength λ=337 nm is a source of nonequilibrium acoustic phonons propagating ballistically through the diamond sample at temperatures ∼2 K. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 64, No. 4, 270–272 (25 August 1996)     

Pressure dependence of the lattice constant of diamond: Isotopic effects

The pressure dependence of lattice constants of ¹³C-enriched diamond and diamond of natural isotopic composition have been studied by using x-ray synchrotron radiation and the imaging plate technique. The compression curves reveal features which indicate an inversion of the isotope effect at high pressure. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 63, No. 2, 73–77 (25 January 1996) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Edited by Steve Torstveit.     

Exploiting optical properties of nanopolycrystalline diamond in high pressure experiments

ABSTRACT

We investigated the optical properties (absorption, luminescence and Raman spectra) of nanopolycrystalline diamond (NPD) aiming at exploring its capabilities as a pressure sensor and as a pressure-cell anvil for combined X-ray/neutron and optical studies. Notably, we analysed the Raman peak shift and broadening with pressure using a Moissanite Anvil Cell (MAC). The results are compared with those obtained in a DAC, where Raman signals from NPD chips and diamond anvils strongly overlap. Its pressure behaviour in the hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic regimes were investigated. We showed that the nanopolycrystalline structure induces remarkable differences in the peak shift and broadening between NPD and natural type IIa single-crystal diamond, making NPD suitable as pressure gauge for pressure determination and testing hydrostaticity of pressure transmitting medium.     

Electronic structure of graphite nanopipes

A recursion method is used for calculating the electron-state density n(E) of carbon in diamond, graphite, C₆₀ fullerene, and graphite nanopipes of various structures and diameters. The calculated n(E) for diamond, graphite, and fullerene are compared with experimental data. The distinctive features of the electron-state density n(E) in graphite nanopipes are discussed. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 1118–1121 (June 1997)     

The dependence of structure and properties of polycrystalline diamonds (PCD) on the conditions of their production

Abstract

AES and SIMS were used to analyze the diamond powders surface composition using LAS-3000 device. It is found that impurities on diamond particles surfaces have a detrimental effect on the PCD sintering and physico-mechanical properties of the product.     

Photoluminescence spectra of ultradisperse diamond

The first study of materials based on ultradisperse diamond produced by detonation is reported. A luminescence band in the visible has been observed, and some of its structural features have been interpreted by analogy with the known luminescence bands of centers in synthetic and natural diamonds. A comparison of the spectra obtained from ultradisperse diamond samples with the surface modified by different chemical treatments suggests that their pattern is governed to a considerable extent by the presence of a graphitic layer on the grain surface. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 2156–2158 (December 1997)     

Influence of structural characteristics on the thermal conductivity of polycrystalline diamond films

By analyzing the signal formed by the photoacoustic effect as a function of the light modulation frequency, it is shown that this effect may be used to determine the thermal conductivity of diamond materials. The method is checked experimentally for two types of polycrystalline diamond films grown by chemical vapor deposition with the gaseous medium activated by a dc discharge and a microwave discharge. The data obtained on the thermal conductivity of the films are discussed with reference to the results of an investigation of the optical absorption, Raman light scattering, and cathodoluminescence of similar films. It is shown that the thermal conductivity of polycrystalline diamond films depends on the structural characteristics, which are determined by the deposition conditions. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1221–1225 (July 1998)     

Ab initio modelling of dopants in diamond nanowires: Ii

In this study an analysis is presented of the bonding and structural properties of dehydrogenated and hydrogenated doped cylindrical diamond nanowires calculated using the Vienna Ab Initio Simulation Package, employing density functional theory within the generalized-gradient approximation. The dopants studied here have been inserted substitutionally, equidistant along the axis of an infinite (periodic) diamond nanowire. These dopants include aluminium, phosphorus, oxygen and sulphur. The doped nanowires have then been re-relaxed, and properties compared with previously calculated results for undoped, boron-doped and nitrogen-doped structures. Structural properties of relaxed nanowires considered here include an examination bonding via the electron charge density, with the aim of providing a better understanding of the effects of dopants on the stability of diamond nanostructures and nanodevices.