This award is for the renewal of the Materials Research Group at Case Western University on the topic of low pressure growth of diamond and diamond-like materials. The principal experimental program areas are: (1) studies of the nucleation and growth of diamond and diamond-like materials including the nature of the molecular precursors, the origin and role of defects during growth, and heteroepitaxial growth, (2) fundamental structural and property measurements including mechanical properties, transport properties, influence of doping and hydrogen. The theoretical studies include: (1) molecular orbital studies of nucleation and growth, (2) electronic structure calculations of interfaces and surfaces, (3) Monte Carlo computer modelling of growth, and (4) reactor modelling. The diamond and diamond-like films are characterized using ion beam analysis, electron microscopy, Fourier transform nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and Raman scattering. The experimental and theoretical efforts are highly interactive.
