Epitaxial growth of crystalline, diamond-like films on Si (100) by laser ablation of graphite

Pulsed laser evaporation has been used to deposit ultrathin (<1 nm) carbon films on Si (100) in an ultrahigh vacuum environment. Auger spectroscopy studies revealed a layer-by-layer growth up to the fourth layer. Within this coverage range, the electronic structure of the carbon atoms evolves from carbidic to diamond-like. Above two layers the topmost one consists exclusively of carbon atoms as evidenced by low-energy ion scattering experiments. Scanning tunneling microscopy shows that the films are crystalline and that the surface lattice is hexagonal.