Formations of conic surfaces on diamond films induced by hot filament assisted double-bias hydrogen plasma

Abstract

The hot filament assisted double-bias hydrogen has been employed for the surface fabrication of the as-formed chemical vapor deposited diamond films on the nanometer scale. Diamond cone arrays are successfully prepared through hydrogen plasma etching. The intrinsic columnar structure of the diamond films leads to the unevenly distributed ion etching rate, which plays an important role in the cone formation. Simultaneously, the carbon-containing species sputtered out may re-deposit on the surface. The evolvement of the characteristic surface is thus determined by the competition between the ion etching and the carbon deposition. The application of grid electrode influences the discharge characteristics at the substrate region. By controlling the grid current, the surface structure of diamond films may be significantly tuned. Moreover, by introducing small amounts of methane in the etching process, the increased concentration of carbon-containing species enhances the secondary diamond nucleation on the film surface, which further promotes the uniformity of the diamond cone arrays.