Abstract (eng)
The peculiarity of carbon lies in its ability to hybridize electronic orbitals in different configurations. Among the many representatives of carbon allotropes, diamond and graphite are the best known. Intriguing differences in their electronic properties may result in electronic devices if combined into diamond-graphite heterostructures. In this thesis, the Ni-mediated graphitization of diamond surfaces is studied in order to obtain a clear understanding of the catalytic mechanisms forming graphite from different diamond structures, which has not been provided yet.
Nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) films grown on Si substrates and commercial single-crystal diamonds (SCD) with different surface orientations were coated with thin Ni films and annealed to high temperatures to trigger the catalytic transformation to graphite. The structures formed in this transformation were analyzed using a variety of microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, with emphasis on aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy methods for gaining insight into the transformation mechanism on the atomic level.
For NCD grown on Si substrates with a thick oxide layer it was shown that the graphitization is dominated by Ni nanoparticles drilling channels along diamond grain boundaries and filling them with graphite. The evidence of a covalently bound diamond-graphite interface at the channel walls was the main finding in this case. In NCD grown on Si with a very thin native oxide layer, Ni diffused into the Si substrate and, in addition to graphitization of NCD, caused secondary chemical reactions forming crystalline NiSi2 and SiC. Graphitization of SCDs depends on their surface orientation. On (111) surfaces, Ni particles moving laterally remove diamond layer by layer, converting it to graphite. This atomic planing is explained by a kink-based mechanism of C released at atomic surface steps and by interdiffusion at the Ni-diamond interface. In the case of (110) and (100) orientations, graphitization by drilling, similar to NCD, dominates. Finally, electronic transport measurements were correlated with structural properties of the produced heterostructures.
The results obtained in this thesis contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms of the catalytic diamond-to-graphite transformation and the atomic structure of diamond-graphite interfaces. The electrical measurements prove the existence of a continuous conductive layer on the dielectric substrate, which may provide a foundation for catalytically formed diamond-graphite nanodevices.