Electrostatic Self-Assembly of Diamond Nanoparticles onto Al- and N-Polar Sputtered Aluminum Nitride Surfaces

Taro Yoshikawa (1) , Markus Reusch (1, 2) , Verena Zuerbig (1) , Volker Cimalla (1) , Kee-Han Lee (3) , Magdalena Kurzyp (3) , Jean-Charles Arnault (3) , Christoph Nebel (1) , Oliver Ambacher (1) , Vadim Lebedev (1)

1 Fraunhofer IAF - Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics
2 University of Freiburg [Freiburg]
3 LCD-LIST - Laboratoire Capteurs Diamant

Electrostatic self-assembly of diamond nanoparticles (DNPs) onto substrate surfaces (so-called nanodiamond seeding) is a notable technique, enabling chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of nanocrystalline diamond thin films on non-diamond substrates. In this study, we examine this technique onto differently polarized (either Al- or N-polar) c-axis oriented sputtered aluminum nitride (AlN) film surfaces. This investigation shows that Al-polar films, as compared to N-polar ones, obtain DNPs with higher density and more homogeneously on their surfaces. The origin of these differences in density and homogeneity is discussed based on the hydrolysis behavior of AlN surfaces in aqueous suspensions.

Keywords: electrostatic self-assembly; nanodiamond seeding; diamond nanoparticles; aluminum nitride; polarity; surface oxidation; hydrolysis; zeta potential; NANOCRYSTALLINE DIAMOND; SINGLE-CRYSTALS; GROWTH; NUCLEATION; REACTIVITY; STABILITY; DEVICES; POWDER; FILMS

Domains: Physics [physics]; Condensed Matter [cond-mat]; Materials Science [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]; Engineering Sciences [physics]; Micro and nanotechnologies/Microelectronics

Taro Yoshikawa, Markus Reusch, Verena Zuerbig, Volker Cimalla, Kee-Han Lee, et al.. Electrostatic Self-Assembly of Diamond Nanoparticles onto Al- and N-Polar Sputtered Aluminum Nitride Surfaces. Nanomaterials, 2016, 6 (11), pp.217. ⟨10.3390/nano6110217⟩. ⟨cea-01874774⟩