Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-22dnz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T01:35:12.494Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Role of Nucleation on the Growth of Nanocrystalline Diamond (NCD) Films: A Particular Study in the Fabrication of Micro-cantilevers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Sathyaharish Jeedigunta
Affiliation:
jeedigun@mail.usf.edu, University of South Florida, Electrical Engineering, 4202 E. Fowler Ave, ENB 118, Dept of Electrical engineering., University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 33620, United States
Priscila Spagnol
Affiliation:
priscila.spagnol@sri.com, SRI International, St.Petersburg, FL, 33701, United States
John Bumgarner
Affiliation:
john.bumgarner@sri.com, SRI International, St.Petersburg, FL, 33701, United States
Ashok Kumar
Affiliation:
akumar@eng.usf.edu, University of South Florida, Department of Mechanical engineering, Tampa, FL, 33620, United States
Get access

Abstract

The effect of ultrasonic method of seeding on the growth of nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) films has been studied by investigating the nucleation densities of two nanodiamond slurries- 1) nanodiamond powder suspended in acetone 2) mixture of titanium nanopowder and nanodiamond powder suspended in acetone. The former has resulted in a lower nucleation density on the order of 108 cm−2 while the later has increased the nucleation density by over two orders (>1010 cm−2) of magnitude. NCD films were grown on Si(100) substrates in a Cyrannus I Iplas microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MPECVD) reactor using 0.5% CH4, 1% H2 and 98.5% Ar gas chemistry at a substrate temperature of ∼ 750°C, pressure of 135 T and a microwave power of 1.8 kW. The double anchored cantilever structures with NCD as structural material have been fabricated by conventional photolithography. It was observed that the films grown after pre-treating the substrates in pure nanodiamond slurry have not provided a complete coverage at the anchor regions of the cantilevers due to the lower nucleation density. Hence during the sacrificial oxide etch, the anchor regions did not adhere well to the substrate and the entire structures got detached from the substrate. But on the other hand, the films grown by seeding the substrates in a suspension of titanium nanopowder and diamond nanopowder showed complete film coverage and consequently very good bonding to the Si substrate at the anchor pads. In this case, the cantilevers have been successfully released without any problems at the anchor pads. Further the mechanical properties of the films were conducted by evaluating the Young's modulus and the hardness by nano-indentation technique.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Liou, Y., Inspektor, A., Weimer, R., and Messier, R., Appl. Phys. Lett. 55, 631 (1989).Google Scholar
2. Pickrell, D. J., Zhu, W., Badzian, A. R., Newnham, R. E., and Messier, R., J. Mater. Res. 6, 1264 (1991).Google Scholar
3. Patscheider, J. and B. Oral, Thin Solid Films. 253, 114 (1994).Google Scholar
4. Butler, J. and Windischmann, H., Mater. Res. Soc. Bull. 23, 22 (1998).Google Scholar
5. Liu, Y.K., Tso, P.L., Lin, I.N., Tzeng, Y., Chen, Y.C., Diamond and Relat. Mater, 15 (2), 234 (2006).Google Scholar
6. Morrish, A. A., Pehr E. Pehrsson, Appl. Phys. Lett. 59 (4), 417 (1991).Google Scholar
7. Yang, G. S. and Aslam, M., Appl. Phys. Lett, 66, 315 (1995).Google Scholar
8. Yugo, S., Kanai, T., Kimura, T., and Muto, T., Appl. Phys. Lett. 58 (10), 1036 (1991).Google Scholar
9. Stoner, B. R., Ma, G.-H., Wolter, S. D., Glass, J. T., Physical Review B, 45 (19), 11067 (1992).10.1103/PhysRevB.45.11067Google Scholar
10. Jiang, X., Zhang, W. J., and Klages, C.-P., Physical Review B, 58 (11), 7064 (1998).Google Scholar
11. , Sekaric, Parpia, J. M., Craighead, H. G., Feygelson, T., Houston, B. H., Butler, J. E., Appl. Phys. Lett, 81(23), 4455 (2002).Google Scholar