High quality CVD single crystal diamonds grown on nanorods patterned diamond seed

Microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) has been developed as a popular method to grow artificial single crystal diamonds with high crystal quality due to its feasibility and economical effectivity. However, the surface roughness and defects will lead to the generation of cracks in the growth process and significant degradation of the crystal quality of epitaxial CVD diamond. Although optimized growth parameters and subsequent chemico-mechanical polishing (CMP) could improve the surface morphology of CVD diamond layer for device fabrication, more investigations need to be done. In this study, nano-sized patterns were prepared by self-assembled Ni mask and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching method on diamond seed, and the height of nanorods were optimized for high quality single crystal diamond growth. According to the Microscope imaging, Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) mapping and X-ray diffraction measurements, the influence of diamond nucleation on nanorod structures has been evaluated. The results demonstrate that the surface morphology and crystal quality of CVD diamond layer can be improved by the nano-sized patterned diamond seed, indicating a promising method for diamond-based device fabrication.