Abstract

First results are presented which demonstrate the feasibility of selective deposition of diamond films on dense arrays of Si tips. We are able to grow diamond films either covering the whole tip structure or the very top only, depending on the tip geometry, dimensions, and deposition conditions. The diamond films are grown using a plasmadeposition technique in conjunction with a methane-hydrogen gas mixture. It is demonstrated that the seeding process and plasma manipulation are critical to achieve the conditions necessary to produce selective diamond deposition on the tips. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images are presented to demonstrated the different film morphological characteristics.

© 1995 Optical Society of America