Self-organization of detonation-diamond particles on a substrate in carbon condensation from the vapor–gas phase

Processes in which the island structure is ordered occur in composite carbon films produced by preliminary population of an amorphous substrate with a detonation-diamond system and subsequent condensation of carbon from the vapor–gas phase. These processes, observed already upon filling of the substrate with diamond-growth centers, are manifested in that there appears a structural periodicity of the islands. It was found that the condensation of carbon on the populated substrate is accompanied by the evolution of the island structure of primary growth centers. This consists in that a hexagonal packing of the islands is formed, with the size of these islands increasing by two orders of magnitude. All these structural features of how a composite diamond-carbon film is formed indicate that self-organization processes occur in the system of diamond islands when carbon atoms are condensed and interact with primary diamond crystals.