Observation of Two Types of Growth Modes on (111) Face in CVD Diamond Films.

Both spiral growth and terrace flow growth were observed on the vicinal (111) faces of a multiply twinned diamond particle by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Furthermore, both left- and right-handed spirals were obtained on a fivefold multiply twinned particle. The SEM results provide direct evidence for which two types of growth modes could exist at the same time during the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond growth. It depends strongly on whether there exists a screw dislocation on the underlying diamond substrate for each respective growth on (111) faces. We explained all the features using the classical crystal growth theory of Burton, Cabrera and Frank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]