Diamond nucleation on epitaxially grown Y-ZrO2 layers on Si(100)

Enhanced nucleation of polycrystalline diamond has been achieved on Si(100) with an epitaxial intermediate layer of yttria stabilized zirconia (Y-ZrO2). The epitaxial Y-ZrO2 layer was grown by pulsed excimer laser ablation and the diamond deposition was accomplished using the hot filament chemical vapor deposition method. The morphological, structural, and defect properties of the diamond crystallites are studied using the techniques of scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and laser Raman spectroscopy, respectively.