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Abstract

The diamond thin filmcommercial market isprojected to exceed one billion dollars by the year 2000. Potential applications of diamond thin films range from cutting tools to electronics tomedical devices. The explosion ofinterest in this fieldresults from the extreme properties diamond possesses: itis the hardest material known toman and yet, has a coefficient of friction similar to Teflon;its ability to conduct heat is five times that of copper; and diamond is completely inert. However, despite the tremendous economic incentive, there are still several technological barriers preventing diamond filmscale-up to commercial production. Included among these are a fundamental understanding of the gas phase chemistry leading to diamond filmformation and the lack of a reliable insitu, on-line Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)monitoring capability. Here we describe the use of optical emission spectroscopy (OES) as a possible direct current CVD plasma jet on-line monitor. Specifically, OES spectra from the C2 radical, an intermediate species in the diamond CVD process, is utilized to obtain plasma gas temperatures insitu. Additionally, the reliability of a plasma gas temperature determined fromOES is examined withLaser-Induced-Fluorescence (LIF).

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