Effects of the electric field at the edge of a substrate to deposit a Ø100 mm uniform diamond film in a 2.45 GHz MPCVD system

Abstract

In this study, uniform diamond films with a diameter of 100 mm were deposited in a 15 kW/2.45 GHz ellipsoidal microwave plasma chemical vapour deposition (MPCVD) system. A phenomenological model previously developed by our group was used to simulate the distribution of the electric strength and electron density of plasma. Results indicate that the electric field in the cavity includes multiple modes, i.e. TM02 and TM03. When the gas pressure exceeds 10 kPa, the electron density of plasma increases and plasma volume decreases. A T-shaped substrate was developed to achieve uniform temperature, and the substrate was suspended in air from Ø70 mm to 100 mm, thus eliminating vertical heat dissipation. An edge electric field was added to the system after the introduction of the T-shaped substrate. Moreover, the plasma volume in this case was greater than that in the central electric field but smaller than that in the periphery electric field of the TM02 mode. This indicates that the electric field above and below the edge benefits the plasma volume rather than the periphery electric field of the TM02 mode. The quality, uniformity and surface morphology of the deposited diamond films were primarily investigated to maintain substrate temperature uniformity. When employing the improved substrate, the thickness unevenness of the Ø100 mm diamond film decreased from 22% to 7%.