The effect of crystallographic orientation on the optical anisotropy of graphite layers on diamond surfaces

The optical anisotropy of polycrystalline graphite layers formed after catalytic graphitization of single-crystal diamond surfaces has been studied as a function of crystallographic substrate orientation. It was found that the shapes and orientations of the two-dimensional indicatrices of the graphite coatings were in complete agreement with the two-dimensional point-group symmetry of the underlying diamond surfaces. This means the graphite crystallites have one or more preferential orientations imposed by the substrate.