Remote Ecr Plasma Deposition of Diamond Thin Films from Water-Methanol Mixtures

Abstract

We have applied an electron cyclotron resonance technique to deposit diamond thin films on various substrates under remote plasma, low temperature (600°C) and low pressure (60 mTorr) conditions. Diamond films were grown on different substrates (silicon, molybdenum) with varying concentrations of precursor gases (methanol and water). A positive substrate bias (50 to 60 V) was found to be essential for the growth of diamond films onto substrates positioned 16 cm below the ECR plasma. The films were characterized by Raman, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy for microstructure, phase purity and chemical bonding characteristics. The effect of various processing parameters including gas pressure, gas composition, substrate temperature and bias have also been analyzed.