Three-dimensional diamond growth film simulations: correlations between nucleation and surface parameters
Résumé
The development of a three-dimensional simulation of the diamond nucleation and growth presented in a previous paper has been used in this study to determine surface parameters such as the roughness, R a , and porosity (filling factor Q) of diamond film, according to the crystal size (via the radius R) and the nucleation density N. Evolutions of these surface parameters are compared to values obtained by a statistical treatment (Poisson's law) based on the random nucleation and subsequent growth of hemispheres. In particular, we study the roughness variations with the parameter l=pR2N, which seems to be the key variable in the case of coatings whose nucleation and growth are in agreement with the Volmer–Weber mechanism. From these results, it is possible to calculate some surface parameters that are useful for tribological and optical applications and whose evolutions with synthesis time have not been reported to our knowledge.