Growth mechanisms and defects in boronated CVD diamond as identified by scanning tunneling microscopy

Boron-doped CVD-diamond films were grown in a simple hot filament reactor. A set of samples grown using various methane-in-hydrogen concentrations has been examined by scanning tunneling microscopy in air. On the diamond (111) crystal faces monoatomic steps could be observed giving evidence for layer growth. At low ${\mathrm{CH}}_4$ concentrations the layers form triangular growth spirals. Screw dislocations in the middle of the spirals serve as continuous sources of steps for the layer growth producing (111) faces of high crystal perfection. At higher methane concentrations the crystal perfection declines and the (111) crystal faces exhibit a mosaic structure. The size of the subgrains in the mosaic pattern decreases with increasing ${\mathrm{CH}}_4$ concentration. Nucleation of new layers takes place at the subgrain boundaries. The topography of (001) crystal faces did not significantly change with the methane-in-hydrogen concentration and did not allow the determination of the underlying growth mechanism.