Orientation variation along growth direction of millimeter free-standing CVD diamond thinned by mechanical grinding

A free-standing diamond film with millimeter thickness prepared by DC arc plasma jet was thinned successively by mechanical grinding. The orientation and quality of the diamond films with different thicknesses were characterized by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, respectively. The results show a random grain-orientation distribution during the initial growth stage. As the film thickness increases, the preferred orientation of the diamond film changes from (111) to (220), due to the competitive growth mechanism. Twinning generated during the nucleation stage appears to stabilize the preferential growth along the < 110 > direction. The interplanar spacing of the (220) plane is enlarged as the film thickness increases, which is caused by the increase of non-diamond-phase carbon and impurities under the cyclic gas. In addition, the quality of the diamond film is barely degraded during the growth process. Furthermore, the peak shift demonstrates a significant inhomogeneity of stress along the film growth direction, which results from competitive growth.