Synthesis of Diamond Using RF Magnetron Methanol Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition Assisted by Hydrogen Radical Injection

Abstract

A new plasma chemical vapor deposition (P-CVD) system was developed for synthesis of diamond. This system consisted of a parallel-plate radio frequency (RF) (13.56 MHz) plasma reactor, with a radical source using a microwave (2.45 GHz) discharge plasma and substrate heating using a cw-CO2 laser. In this system, hydrogen (H) radicals were generated in the microwave H2 plasma and preferentially injected near the substrate in the parallel-plate RF magnetron methanol ( CH3OH) plasma region. By scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses, it was found that diamond was successfully synthesized using this system. The effects of H radical on the diamond formation were also investigated from the results of optical emission measurements in the RF plasma region, thin-film deposition and etching of the nondiamond phases by varying amounts of H radical injection.