Morphology of heavily B-doped diamond films

Abstract

B-doped diamond films were synthesized by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition using a mixture of methane (0.5% or 1.2%) and diborane (B2H6) below 50 ppm on either Si substrates or undoped diamond films that had been synthesized using 0.5% or 1.2% methane. The surface morphologies of the synthesized films were observed by Secondary Electron Microscopy, and the infrared absorption and Raman spectra were measured. It was found that when diborane concentration was low, B-doped films preferred (111) facets. On the other hand, high diborane concentrations resulted in a deposition of needle-like material that was identified as graphite by x-ray diffraction.