Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 1278 © Materials Research Society NUCLEATION AND GROWTH OF DIAMOND THIN FILMS: THE ROLE OF TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE J. Morales 1 , R. Bernal 2 , C. Cruz-Vazquez 3 , E.G. Salcido-Romero 3 and V.M. Castaño 4,* 1 Facultad de Ingeniería Mecánica y Eléctrica, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Av. Universidad S/N, San Nicolás, Nuevo León 66450 México 2 Departamento de Investigación en Física, Universidad de Sonora, Apdo. Postal 5-088, Hermosillo, Sonora 83190 México 3 Departamento de Investigación en Polímeros y Materiales, Universidad de Sonora, Apartado Postal 130, Hermosillo, Sonora 83000 México 4 Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A. P. 1-1010, Querétaro, Querétaro 76000 México *On sabatical leave at Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro ABSTRACT Diamond thin films were deposited onto Si (100) substrates using liquid a solution of water and acetone, ethanol, methanol and commercial Tequila as precursors by the Pulsed Liquid Injection Chemical Vapor Deposition (PLICVD) technique. Temperature was varied from 550 °C to 850 °C. In this work we attempted to find a crystal diameter dependence on temperature and pressure from the experimental data. The goal in this work is to found a function that can be adjusted to the experimental data. INTRODUCTION Diamond thin films properties are so close to the natural diamond that some have already found commercial applications, such as optical, electronic, medical and mechanical applications. Diamond thin films have been synthesized by a variety of Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) techniques. The CVD require a mean of activating gas-phase carbon-containing precursor molecules, which can be achieved by a hot filament, an electric discharge, radiofrequency, microwave, flame, etc. [1-3]. The CVD produced diamond is comparable, in purity and properties, to its natural counterpart. In most CVD experiments, hydrocarbon gases, diluted in hydrogen at a very high percentage, are regularly used as carbon source [4].