Effect of nitrogen on deposition and field emission properties of boron-doped micro-and nano-crystalline diamond films

In this paper,we report the effect of nitrogen on the deposition and properties of boron doped diamond films synthesized by hot filament chemical vapor deposition.The diamond films consisting of micro-grains(nano-grains) were realized with low(high) boron source flow rate during the growth processes.The transition of micro-grains to nano-grains is speculated to be strongly(weekly) related with the boron(nitrogen) flow rate.The grain size and Raman spectral feature vary insignificantly as a function of the nitrogen introduction at a certain boron flow rate.The variation of electron field emission characteristics dependent on nitrogen is different between microcrystalline and nanocrystalline boron doped diamond samples,which are related to the combined phase composition,boron doping level and texture structure.There is an optimum nitrogen proportion to improve the field emission properties of the boron-doped films.

Friction Behaviors of the Hot Filament Chemical Vapor Deposition Diamond Film under Ambient Air and Water Lubricating Conditions

The friction behavior of the hot filament chemical vapor deposition（HFCVD） diamond film plays a critical role on its applications in mechanical fields and largely depends on the environment. Studies on the tribological properties of HFCVD diamond films coated on Co-cemented tungsten carbide （WC-Co） substrates are rarely reported in available literatures, especially in the water lubricating conditions. In this paper, conventional microcrystalline diamond（MCD） and fine-grained diamond（FGD） films are deposited on WC-Co substrates and their friction properties are evaluated on a reciprocating ball-on-plate tribometer, where they are brought to slide against ball-bearing steel and copper balls in dry and water lubricating conditions. Scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, atomic force microscopy（AFM）, surface profilometer and Raman spectroscopy are adopted to characterize as-deposited diamond films; SEM and energy dispersive X-ray（EDX） are used to investigate the worn region on the surfaces of both counterface balls and diamond films. The research results show that the friction coefficient of HFCVD diamond films always starts with a high initial value, and then gradually transits to a relative stable state. For a given counterface and a sliding condition, the FGD film presents lower stable friction coefficients by 0.02-0.03 than MCD film. The transferred materials adhered on sliding interface are supposed to have predominate effect on the friction behaviors of HFCVD diamond films. Furthermore, the effect of water lubricating on reducing friction coefficient is significant. For a given counterpart, the stable friction coefficients of MCD or FGD films reduce by about 0.07-0.08 while sliding in the water lubricating condition, relative to in dry sliding condition. This study is beneficial for widespread applications of HFCVD diamond coated mechanical components and adopting water lubricating system, replacing ofoil lubricating, in a variety of mechanical processing fields to implement the green production process.

The Effect of Pressure on the Dissociation of H_2/CH_4Gas Mixture during Diamond Films Growth via Chemical Vapor Deposition

Monte Carlo simulations are adopted to study the electron motion in the mixture of H2 and CH4 during diamond synthesis via Glow Plasma-assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition (GPCVD). The non-uniform electric field is used and the avalanche of electrons is taken into account in this simulation. The average energy distribution of electrons and the space distribution of effective species such as CH3, CH+3, CH+ and H at various gas pressures are given in this paper, and optimum experimental conditions are inferred from these results.

Deposition of Diamond Films on Copper Substrate

The direct deposition of diamond films on copper substrate has been suffered fromadhesion problems due to the mismatch of the thermal expansion coefficients of diamond andcopper. In this paper nuclei with valuable density were directly introduced thirough a submicrondiamond powder layer. The diamond grits partially were buried in the copper substrate leadingto better adhesion. Another method with nickel intermediate layer for enhancing the adhesionwas studied here in detail. It was suggested that Cu-Ni eutectic between the copper substrate andNi interlayer might contribute to the adhesion improvement. The quality of the diamond filmsdeposited wlth rnckel interlayer was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and Ramanspectroscopy.

Effects of Implant Copper Layer on Diamond Film Deposition on Cemented Carbides

The deposition of high-quality diamond films and their adhesion on cemented carbides are strongly influenced by the catalytic effect of cobalt under typical deposition conditions. Decreasing Co content on the surface of the cemented carbide is often used for the diamond film deposition. But the leaching of Co from the WC-Co substrate leading to a mechanical weak surface often causes a poor adhesion. In this paper we adopted an implant copper layer prepared by vaporization to improve the mechanical properties of the Co-leached substrate. The diamond films were grown by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition from CH4:H2 gas mixture. The cross section and the morphology of the diamond film were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The non-diamond content in the film was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy. The effects of pretreatment on the concentrations of Co and Cu near the interfacial region were examined by energy dispersive spectrum (EDS) equipped with SEM. The adhesion of the diamond on the substrate was evaluated with a Rockwell-type hardness tester. The results indicate that the diamond films prepared with implant copper layer have a good adhesion to the cemented carbide substrate due to the recovery of the mechanical properties of the Co-depleted substrate after the copper implantation and the formation of less amorphous carbon between the substrate and the diamond film.

Study on Diamond Thin Films Deposition in a Quartz Bell-jar Type System for MWPCVD

Diamond thin films were prepared in a modified quartz bell-jar type microwave chemical vapor deposition (MWPCVD) system. The influences of process parameters on MWPCVD diamond thin films quality such as substrate pretreatment, deposition gas ratio, deposition pressure and substrate position were examined and studied. The deposited films were characterized by using Scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and Raman spectroscopy. It was shown that this quartz bell-jar type MWPCVD system is beneficial to the deposition of high quality diamond thin films.

An Effective Method for Improvement of Field Electron Emission Site Density and Uniformity of Amorphous Carbon Thin Films

Amorphous carbon films are deposited on the Mo film/ceramic substrates, which are pretreated by a laser spattering chiselling technique （2 line/mm）, by using the microwave chemical vapour deposition technique. The films are characterized by x-ray diffraction, Raman spectrum, optical microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The experimental result indicates that the laser spattering chiselling pretreated techniques can essentially improve the field emission uniformity and the emission site density of the amorphous carbon thin film devices so that its emission site density can reach the level of actual application （undistinguishable by naked eye） from a broad well-proportioned emission area of 50mm × 50mm. This kind of device can show various digits and words clearly. The lowest turn-on field below 1 V/m, the emission current density over 5.0±0.1 mA/cm^2, and the highest luminance 1.0 × 10^3 cd/m^2 are obtained. Meanwhile, the role of the laser spattering chiselling techniques in improving the field emission properties of the amorphous carbon film are explained.

Growth of SiC as Binder to Adhere Diamond Particle and Tribological Properties of Diamond Particles Coated SiC

The purpose of this work was to grow SiC as binder to adhere diamond particles to graphite substrate by low pressure chemical vapor deposition （LPCVD） at 1100 ℃ and 100 Pa using methyltrichlorosilane （MTS： CH3SiCl3） as precursor. The composite coatings on graphite substrates were analyzed by various techniques. Results show that a dense SiC coating with a cloud-cluster shape was formed both on the diamond particles and the substrate after deposition, The thermal stress （290.6 MPa） strengthened the interfacial bonding between the diamond particle and the SiC coating, which is advantageous for the purpose of adhering diamond particles to graphite substrate. The applied load of sliding wear test was found to affect not only the friction coefficient, but also the wear surface morphology. With increasing loads, the asperity penetration was high and the friction coefficient decreased.