Interfacial characterization and residual stress analysis in diamond films on LiNbO ₃

Diamond films were deposited via microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition on lithium niobate (LN) substrates. Characterization of the interfacial regions formed between diamond films and LN substrates was carried out by several techniques. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) was used to determine the depth profiles of carbon, lithium, niobium, and oxygen in the LN substrate covered with diamond nuclei and in the substrate without nucleation. Results indicate that the diamond nuclei promoted growth of diamond, and in addition, a reduced depth of the lithium deficient zone formed in the LN substrate was observed. Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy observations corroborated the results obtained by SIMS. Residual stresses determined experimentally by an x-ray method or by the shift in the characteristic diamond peak in Raman spectroscopy were much smaller than the calculated thermal residual stresses. The results further emphasize that the interfacial phases are responsible for relieving the thermal stresses generated during cooling of the layered structure. The thickness of the interfacial region was found to be well below for attenuation of the surface acoustic waves in the gigahertz frequency surface acoustic wave devices.