Deposition of diamond and boron nitride films by plasma chemical vapour deposition

Abstract

The deposition problems of diamond and cubic boron nitride (c-BN) by chemical vapour deposition techniques are reviewed, with major emphasis on the nucleation and reaction mechanisms. A discussion is made of the main deposition parameters ( i.e. gas mixture, substrate conditioning, plasma discharges etc.) which favour the formation of the cubic phase. Most of the work is devoted to diamond owing to the large progress attained in this material. In fact, the use of diamond as a hard protective coating is now on a commercial scale. By contrast, the preparation of c-BN layers with good characteristics still needs of further research.