Synthesis diamond films from low pressure chemical vapor deposition

Experiments were performed on the deposition of both diamond crystals and films from hydrogen and methane gas mixtures on silicon and polymer substrates by various plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition techniques (PECVD) . Microwave, arc, and dc plasmas to assist the deposition of the diamond metastable phase of carbon were used. Discussed in the following thesis are the plasma configurations used together with experimental parameters such as gas composition, flow rate, chamber pressure, and power. The crystallinity of the films, which can be controlled and changed from polycrystalline to amorphous, was ascertained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) . Other characterization techniques employed were profilometry to indicate uniformity, depth profiles and growth rates, and Raman spectroscopy which depicted chemical structure