Deposition of (111) oriented diamond films on palladium by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition

(111)-oriented diamond films were deposited successfully on (111)-oriented surfaces of palladium. The (111)-oriented surface of Pd was prepared from commercially available Pd foil, by repeated cold-rolling followed by annealing in H-2. The conventional microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method was employed for diamond deposition, using CH4 diluted with H-2 as the carbon source. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy measurements revealed that a small amount of (0001)-oriented graphite was formed together with the (111)-oriented diamond particles. Diamond particles were probably embedded or dissolved in Pd in some domains of the Pd substrate.