Microporous poly- and monocrystalline diamond films produced from chemical vapor deposited diamond–germanium composites

We report on a novel method for porous diamond fabrication, which is based on the synthesis of diamond–germanium composite films followed by etching of the Ge component. The composites were grown by microwave plasma assisted CVD in CH(4)–H(2)–GeH(4) mixtures on (100) silicon, and microcrystalline- and single-crystal diamond substrates. The structure and the phase composition of the films before and after etching were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The films revealed a bright emission of GeV color centers due to diamond doping with Ge, as evidenced by photoluminescence spectroscopy. The possible applications of the porous diamond films include thermal management, surfaces with superhydrophobic properties, chromatography, supercapacitors, etc.