Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2011
Nanocrystalline diamond films deposited by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MWPCVD) method were observed on Si substrates implanted with phosphor (P) and boron (B) ions at room temperature via scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The relations between the species, energies and doses of implanted impurities and the nucleation, grain size and morphology of diamond were studied. The results present that different nucleation density from 106 cm-2 to 109 cm-2 can be obtained on implanted and unscratched Si, which is larger of 3–6 magnitude orders than that on mirror-polished Si. The nano-structured diamond films can be deposited on scratched Si substrates implanted by higher concentration of phosphor and boron ions. The grain sizes of nano-structured films can be adjusted by controlling the implanted energies and doses, and nano-structured films can be synthesized with low impressive stress. The Raman spectroscopy was employed to analysis the phase purity of nano-structured film, which shows a broad peak at around 1150 cm-1 relative to the nano-structured and tetrahedrally bonded carbon network.