Nanodiamond seeding by Langmuir Blodgett for diamond film growth

In this study, nanodiamonds chemically modified with C12 and C18 hydrocarbon chains were studied for their use in Langmuir-Blodgett deposition. The hydrophobic nanodiamonds were spread from dichloromethane (best solvent in this study) and a compression of 30 mN/m was used to transfer the nanoparticles onto the silicon substrate. Heating this substrate to 400 °C indicates that the particles do not desorb or form aggregates. Finally, the seeded substrate was used for diamond growth via hot filament chemical deposition (HFCVD), resulting in growth of a ca. 2.8 ± 0.1 μm thick diamond film without pinholes, illustrating the feasibility of this approach.