Simultaneous growth of well-aligned diamond and graphitic carbon nanostructures through graphite etching

A hot filament chemical vapor deposition process based on hydrogen etching of graphite has been developed to synthesize diamond and graphitic carbon nanostructures. Well-aligned diamond and graphitic carbon nanostructured thin films have been synthesized simultaneously on differently pretreated silicon substrates in a pure hydrogen plasma. Graphitic nanocones, diamond nanocones and carbon nanotubes were selectively grown on uncoated, diamond and nickel pre-coated silicon substrates, respectively, in a single deposition process. The nanocones are solid cones with submicron scale roots and nanometer-size sharp tips. The nanotubes are hollow tubes with outer diameter of approximately 50 nm. The orientation of the well-aligned carbon nanostructures depends on the direction of the electric field at the samples surface. Nucleation and growth of diamond on the nanocones were further investigated under similar conditions without plasma. Diamond nanocomposite films have been obtained by depositing a nanocrystalline diamond film on the layer of diamond nanocones.