Orientation Dependence of Cathodoluminescence and Photoluminescence Spectroscopy of Defects in Chemical-Vapor-Deposited Diamond Microcrystal

Point defects, impurities, and defect–impurity complexes in diamond microcrystals were studied with the cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy in the scanning electron microscope, photoluminescence (PL), and Raman spectroscopy (RS). Such defects can influence the directions that microcrystals are grown. Micro-diamonds were obtained by a hot-filament chemical vapor deposition (HF CVD) technique from the methane–hydrogen gas mixture. The CL spectra of diamond microcrystals taken from (100) and (111) crystallographic planes were compared to the CL spectrum of a (100) oriented Element Six diamond monocrystal. The following color centers were identified: 2.52, 2.156, 2.055 eV attributed to a nitrogen–vacancy complex and a violet-emitting center (A-band) observed at 2.82 eV associated with dislocation line defects, whose atomic structure is still under discussion. The Raman studies showed that the planes (111) are more defective in comparison to (100) planes. What is reflected in the CL spectra as (111) shows a strong band in the UV region (2.815 eV) which is not observed in the case of the (100) plane.