Selective growth of silver particles on the facets of synthetic diamond

Abstract

We have shown for the first time that simple annealing of silver–synthetic diamond mixtures in air or oxygen at 600–700 °C leads to selective growth of silver particles on the {100} facets of diamond, while no growth is observed on the {111} facets. Annealing at a temperature higher than 750 °C results in significant morphological changes in the heterostructure: silver particles grow not only on the cube but also on the octahedral facets.