Study on low temperature growth and formation mechanism of hexagonal diamond

Abstract: Synthesis of hexagonal diamond on Al/Ni coated thermally oxidized SiO2 covered Si wafer substrate with photo-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method at 450°C is reported here. The Raman spectroscopy on grown samples shows a 1322cm−1 peak with 75.4cm−1 full width at half maximum (FWHM). The X-ray diffraction (XRD) data shows hexagonal diamond peaks. Various stages of hexagonal diamond formation are observed in the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. Based on these images, a mechanism of hexagonal diamond nucleation and growth is proposed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]