Fracture toughness of the interface between CVD diamond film and silicon substrate in the relation with methane concentration in the source gas mixture

Diamond films produced by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) have been reported to show various excellent properties. However, low toughness of diamond films, especially the interface between the films and substrates, has been a severe problem. In order to find the dominant factors to control the adhesive strength of CVD diamond films, we obtained diamond films with various crystalline structures deposited on silicon (100) substrates under various methane concentrations in the source gas mixture. The toughness of the interface between the diamond film and silicon substrate was evaluated for the first time by a recently developed method. The toughness showed an interesting behavior with respect to the variation of methane concentration. The obtained results were quantitatively compared to the data already obtained for the case of CVD diamond particles deposited on silicon substrates.