No CrossRef data available.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
Rudder et al. [1] observed heavy (>109 cm-2) diamond nucleation on unscratched Si wafers overlaid with carbon fibers during CVD growth. We demonstrate that the nucleation occurs on the edges of etch pits and carbon-rich particles resulting from reaction between the fibers and the substrate. Both the etch pits and the particles satisfy what we consider to be two necessary conditions for ‘spontaneous’ nucleation; a carbon-saturated surface and high energy sites (unsatisfied valencies) at edges and steps.