Mapping the effect of substrate temperature inhomogeneity during microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition nanocrystalline diamond growth

Leigh, William G.S.; Cuenca, Jerome A.; Thomas, Evan L. H.; Mandal, Soumen; Williams, Oliver A.

doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2022.09.036

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Modelling simulation makes it possible to infer on a temperature difference between the surface of each Si substrate (from 1 mm to 5 mm thick), a way to overcome the difficulty of directly measuring the substrate surface temperature during deposition due to the opaque hot plasma and the window design of the MPCVD system. For diamond growth by high-power MPCVD under similar power conditions, usually the deposition temperature is reported to be around 700–1000 °C [ 10 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. This can serve as a reference for the simulation of the surface temperatures of Si substrates used for NCD deposition here.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fast, Efficient Tailoring Growth of Nanocrystalline Diamond Films by Fine-Tuning of Gas-Phase Composition Using Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition

Tang,

Fernandes,

Facao

et al. 2024

Materials

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Nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) films are attractive for many applications due to their smooth surfaces while holding the properties of diamond. However, their growth rate is generally low using common Ar/CH4 with or without H2 chemistry and strongly dependent on the overall growth conditions using microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD). In this work, incorporating a small amount of N2 and O2 additives into CH4/H2 chemistry offered a much higher growth rate of NCD films, which is promising for some applications. Several novel series of experiments were designed and conducted to tailor the growth features of NCD films by fine-tuning of the gas-phase compositions with different amounts of nitrogen and oxygen addition into CH4/H2 gas mixtures. The influence of growth parameters, such as the absolute amount and their relative ratios of O2 and N2 additives; substrate temperature, which was adjusted by two ways and inferred by simulation; and microwave power on NCD formation, was investigated. Short and long deposition runs were carried out to study surface structural evolution with time under identical growth conditions. The morphology, crystalline and optical quality, orientation, and texture of the NCD samples were characterized and analyzed. A variety of NCD films of high average growth rates ranging from 2.1 μm/h up to 6.7 μm/h were successfully achieved by slightly adjusting the O2/CH4 amounts from 6.25% to 18.75%, while that of N2 was kept constant. The results clearly show that the beneficial use of fine-tuning of gas-phase compositions offers a simple and effective way to tailor the growth characteristics and physical properties of NCD films for optimizing the growth conditions to envisage some specific applications.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fast, Efficient Tailoring Growth of Nanocrystalline Diamond Films by Fine-Tuning of Gas-Phase Composition Using Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition

Tang,

Fernandes,

Facao

et al. 2024

Materials

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“…Methods for fabricating polycrystalline diamond/nanocrystalline diamond (PCD/NCD) microresonators have been realized based on micromachining of the silicon substrate or selective growth, which have the merit of large area production. 7,8 Several prototype PCD/NCD MEMS devices such as pressure sensors and GHz resonators were demonstrated. 9,10 Nevertheless, the grain boundaries and other carbon phases induce interfriction and limit the ultimate device performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The advancement of diamond MEMS/NEMS resonators is critically dependent on the micromachining fabrication of the freestanding structures, such as cantilever beams, bridges, disks, and membranes. Methods for fabricating polycrystalline diamond/nanocrystalline diamond (PCD/NCD) microresonators have been realized based on micromachining of the silicon substrate or selective growth, which have the merit of large area production. , Several prototype PCD/NCD MEMS devices such as pressure sensors and GHz resonators were demonstrated. , Nevertheless, the grain boundaries and other carbon phases induce interfriction and limit the ultimate device performance. Single-crystal diamond (SCD) MEMS/NEMS have been used in many different applications, including magnetic sensors, radio frequency (RF) switches, actuators, and atomic force microscope probes. , …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-Energy Dissipation Diamond MEMS

Chen,

Koizumi,

Koide

et al. 2024

Acc. Mater. Res.

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Conspectus Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) that integrate tiny mechanical devices with electronics on a semiconductor substate have experienced explosive growth over the past decades. MEMS have a range of wide applications from accelerometers and gyroscopes in automotive safety, to precise reference oscillators in consumer electrons to probes in atomic force microscopy and sensors for gravitational wave detection. The quality (Q)-factor is a fundamental parameter of a MEMS resonator that determines the sensitivity, noise level, energy efficiency, and stability of the device. MEMS with low energy dissipation have always been pursued. Despite the brilliant progress of silicon-based MEMS due to the mature technology in counterpart microelectronics, the intrinsic material properties limit the sensitivity and reliability, especially for the applications under extreme conditions. Diamond has emerged as the ideal semiconductor material for low-energy dissipation MEMS with high performance and high reliability, owing to its unparalleled material properties, such as extremely high mechanical strength, superelectrical properties, highest thermal conductivity, and chemical inertness. Diamond resonators are thus expected to exhibit high Q-factors, and high reliability, with low thermomechanical force noise and long coherence rate of mechanical quantum states, not only improving the performance of MEMS devices but also expanding to the quantum domain. Single-crystal diamond (SCD) is desirable to achieve the ultralow energy loss or high Q-factor MEMS resonator due to the nonexistence of grain boundaries and other carbon phases. However, micromachining for SCD is tough and heteroepitaxial growth of SCD on foreign substrates remains quite difficult. In this Account, we provide an overview of the recent research and strategies in SCD diamond MEMS for achieving high Q-factors, focusing on those fabricated by the smart-cut method developed in our lab. We start with the concept of diamond MEMS, covering structure fabrication, fundamentals, and applications. A comprehensive discussion of the energy dissipation mechanisms on the Q-factors in diamond MEMS resonators is provided. The approaches to enhance the Q-factor of diamond resonators including (1) the growth of high crystal quality SCD epilayer on the ion-implanted substrate, (2) defects engineering, and (3) strain engineering by thinning the resonator to around 100 nm thick are presented. In the smart-cut method, the ∼100 nm thick defective layer contributes to the main intrinsic energy loss. By combing the growth of a high crystal quality diamond epilayer above the defective layer and the atomic scale etching of the defective layer, the Q-factors could be improved from thousands to over one million at room temperature, the highest among all the semiconductors. The intrinsic high Q-factors of SCD MEMS are also due to the well-controlled purity of the diamond epilayer and the ultrawide bandgap energy of diamond. Through strain engineering of the SCD MEMS beam to nanoscale, t...

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Nanodiamond Coating in Energy and Engineering Fields: Synthesis Methods, Characteristics, and Applications

Zhao,

Song,

Zhang

et al. 2024

Small

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Nanodiamonds are metastable allotropes of carbon. Based on their high hardness, chemical inertness, high thermal conductivity, and wide bandgap, nanodiamonds are widely used in energy and engineering applications in the form of coatings, such as mechanical processing, nuclear engineering, semiconductors, etc., particularly focusing on the reinforcement in mechanical performance, corrosion resistance, heat transfer, and electrical behavior. In mechanical performance, nanodiamond coatings can elevate hardness and wear resistance, improve the efficiency of mechanical components, and concomitantly reduce friction, diminish maintenance costs, particularly under high‐load conditions. Concerning chemical inertness and corrosion resistance, nanodiamond coatings are gradually becoming the preferred manufacturing material or surface modification material for equipment in harsh environments. As for heat transfer, the extremely high coefficient of thermal conductivity of nanodiamond coatings makes them one of the main surface modification materials for heat exchange equipment. The increase of nucleation sites results in excellent performance of nanodiamond coatings during the boiling heat transfer stage. Additionally, concerning electrical properties, nanodiamond coatings elevate the efficiency of solar cells and fuel cells, and great performance in electrochemical and electrocatalytic is found. This article will briefly describe the application and mechanism analysis of nanodiamonds in the above‐mentioned fields.

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Mapping the effect of substrate temperature inhomogeneity during microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition nanocrystalline diamond growth

Cited by 7 publications

References 38 publications

Fast, Efficient Tailoring Growth of Nanocrystalline Diamond Films by Fine-Tuning of Gas-Phase Composition Using Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition

Fast, Efficient Tailoring Growth of Nanocrystalline Diamond Films by Fine-Tuning of Gas-Phase Composition Using Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition

Low-Energy Dissipation Diamond MEMS

Nanodiamond Coating in Energy and Engineering Fields: Synthesis Methods, Characteristics, and Applications

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