By means of microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD), diamond was synthesized onto platinum (Pt), silicon (Si) and silicon dioxide (SiO2) surfaces. The nucleation density of diamond on the Pt surface was much higher than on the other surfaces. In particular, the difference between that on the Pt and on the SiO2 surfaces was in the order of 10(6). Based on this great difference in nucleation densities, a novel method for fabricating diamond micropatterns was developed and successfully demonstrated. In this method, a micropatterned Pt film was prepared on a SiO2 substrate as a template to be treated by plasma CVD. Diamond grains grew selectively onto the Pt micropattern while the surrounding SiO2 remained undeposited. Thus, a positive micropatterned diamond film identical to the Pt micropattern was fabricated. Sub-micrometer resolution was achieved with this site-selective plasma CVD.