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The Influence of Diamond Surface Perfection on the Preferential Nucleation of SP2 Carbon During Methane Pyrolysis
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
Abstract
We report a set of CH4 pyrolysis experiments in a UHV system on diamond surfaces having varying degrees of surface roughness or perfection. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) were used to examine the formation of graphite and the resulting surface morphologies. A (100) type Ha natural diamond having 3 sputtered craters on the surface was used as the substrate, sp2 carbon was formed preferentially on the structurally defective crater surfaces after ∼3×1010 L of CH4 exposure at 900°C, whereas essentially no sp2 carbon was found on the flat portions of the diamond surface. Similar experiments were also carried out on a polycrystalline CVD diamond film and sp2 carbon was formed on that surface afte ∼4×109 L of CH4 exposure at 900°C. These results indicate that structural defects on diamond surfaces are a crucial factor in the preferential nucleation of sp2 carbon during CH4 pyrolysis.
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- Copyright © Materials Research Society 1993
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