Aerosol deposition of detonation nanodiamonds used as nucleation centers for the growth of nanocrystalline diamond films and isolated particles

The aerosol deposition of detonation nanodiamonds (DNDs) on a silicon substrate is comprehensively studied, and the possibility of subsequent growth of nanocrystalline diamond films and isolated particles on substrates coated with DNDs is demonstrated. It is shown that a change in the deposition time and the weight concentration of DNDs in a suspension in the range 0.001–1% results in a change in the shape of DND agglomerates and their number per unit substrate surface area N s from 108 to 1011 cm−2. Submicron isolated diamond particles are grown on a substrate coated with DND agglomerates at N s ≈ 108 cm−2 using microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. At N s ≈ 1010 cm−2, thin (∼100 nm) nanodiamond films with a root-mean-square surface roughness less than 15 nm are grown.