Grain-Scale Modeling of CVD of Polycrystalline Diamond Films

Abstract

The evolution of grain size, grain-size distribution, morphological and crystallographic texture, surface roughness, and the contribution of various surface facets to the growth of polycrystalline diamond films is performed by carrying out a series of two-dimensional computer simulations. The films are assumed to grow from a set of randomly oriented, {100}- and {111}-faceted nuclei by the motion of their vertices (the points where the adjoining facets of the same or neighboring grains meet). The vertex velocities are found to be a function of the orientation and the growth rate of the adjoining facets. To quantify the latter, a {100} to {111} growth-rate parameter is used. The results show that the evolution of the grain size and its distribution, surface roughness, morphological and crystallographic texture, and the portion of the film grown from different surface facets are all mutually linked and governed by the magnitude of the growth-rate parameter. The latter can be controlled by the CVD processing conditions, such as the substrate temperature, reactor pressure, mole fraction of carbon-source gas (e.g., CH₄, C₂H₂).