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A comprehensive study of microwave (MW) activated CH4/H2/Ar plasmas used for diamond chemical vapor deposition is reported, focusing particularly on the effects of gross variations in the H2/Ar ratio in the input gas mixture (from H2/Ar mole fraction ratios of > 10:1, through to ∼1:99). Absolute column densities of C2(a) and CH(X) radicals and of H(n = 2) atoms have been determined by cavity ringdown spectroscopy, as functions of height (z) above a substrate and of process conditions (CH4, H2, and Ar input mole fractions, total pressure, p, and input microwave power, P). Optical emission spectroscopy has also been used to explore the relative densities of electronically excited H atoms, and CH, C2, and C3 radicals, as functions of these same process conditions. These experimental data are complemented by extensive 2D (r, z) modeling of the plasma chemistry, which provides a quantitative rationale for all of the experimental observations. Progressive replacement of H2 by Ar (at constant p and P) leads to an expanded plasma volume. Under H2-rich conditions, > 90% of the input MW power is absorbed through rovibrational excitation of H2. Reducing the H2 content (as in an Ar-rich plasma) leads to a reduction in the absorbed power density; the plasma necessarily expands in order to accommodate a given input power. The average power density in an Ar-rich plasma is much lower than that in an H2-rich plasma operating at the same p and P. Progressive replacement of H2 by Ar is shown also to result in an increased electron temperature, an increased [H]/[H2] number density ratio, but little change in the maximum gas temperature in the plasma core (which is consistently ∼3000 K). Given the increased [H]/[H2] ratio, the fast H-shifting (CyHx + H ↔ CyHx-1 + H2; y = 1-3) reactions ensure that the core of Ar-rich plasma contains much higher relative abundances of 'product' species like C atoms, and C2, and C3 radicals. The effects of Ar dilution on the absorbed power dissipation pathways and the various species concentrations just above the growing diamond film are also investigated and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CH4 and C2H2 molecules (and their interconversion) in hydrocarbon/rare gas/H2 gas mixtures in a microwave reactor used for plasma enhanced diamond chemical vapor deposition (CVD) have been investigated by line-of-sight infrared absorption spectroscopy in the wavenumber range of 1276.5-1273.1 cm-1 using a quantum cascade laser spectrometer. Parameters explored include process conditions [pressure, input power, source hydrocarbon, rare gas (Ar or Ne), input gas mixing ratio], height (z) above the substrate, and time (t) after addition of hydrocarbon to a pre-existing Ar/H2 plasma. The line integrated absorptions so obtained have been converted to species number densities by reference to the companion two-dimensional (r,z) modeling of the CVD reactor described in Mankelevich et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 104, 113304 (2008)]. The gas temperature distribution within the reactor ensures that the measured absorptions are dominated by CH4 and C2H2 molecules in the cool periphery of the reactor. Nonetheless, the measurements prove to be of enormous value in testing, tensioning, and confirming the model predictions. Under standard process conditions, the study confirms that all hydrocarbon source gases investigated (methane, acetylene, ethane, propyne, propane, and butane) are converted into a mixture dominated by CH4 and C2H2. The interconversion between these two species is highly dependent on the local gas temperature and the H atom number density, and thus on position within the reactor. CH4→C2H2 conversion occurs most efficiently in an annular shell around the central plasma (characterized by 1400gas<2200 K), while the reverse transformation C2H2→CH4 is favored in the more distant regions where Tgas<1400 K. Analysis of the multistep... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports systematic measurements of the power utilization by Ta (and Re) hot filaments (HFs) operating in a poor vacuum, in pure He, N2, and H2, and in CH4/H2 gas mixtures of relevance to diamond growth by HF chemical vapor deposition, as functions of filament temperature Tfil (in the range of 1800–2700 K) and gas pressure p (in the range of 10-2–100 Torr). In the cases of H2 and the CH4/H2 gas mixtures, the power consumption studies are complemented by in situ measurements of the relative H atom densities [H] near the HF—which are seen to maximize at p∼10–20 Torr and thereafter to remain constant or, at the highest Tfil, to decline at higher p. These (and many previous) findings are rationalized by a companion theoretical analysis, which reduces the complex array of chemisorption and desorption processes that must contribute to the HF-surface mediated dissociation of H2 to a two-step mechanism involving H atom formation by dissociative adsorption at bare (S*) sites and by desorption at hydrogenated (SH) sites on the HF surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatially resolved optical emission spectroscopy (OES) has been used to investigate the gas phase chemistry and composition in a microwave activated CH4/Ar/H2 plasma operating at moderate power densities (∼30 W cm-3) and pressures (≤175 Torr) during chemical vapor deposition of polycrystalline diamond. Several tracer species are monitored in order to gain information about the plasma. Relative concentrations of ground state H (n=1) atoms have been determined by actinometry, and the validity of this method have been demonstrated for the present experimental conditions. Electronically excited H (n=3 and 4) atoms, Ar (4p) atoms, and C2 and CH radicals have been studied also, by monitoring their emissions as functions of process parameters (Ar and CH4 flow rates, input power, and pressure) and of distance above the substrate. These various species exhibit distinctive behaviors, reflecting their different formation mechanisms. Relative trends identified by OES are found to be in very good agreement with those revealed by complementary absolute absorption measurements (using cavity ring down spectroscopy) and with the results of complementary two-dimensional modeling of the plasma chemistry prevailing within this reactor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Absolute column densities of C2(a) and CH radicals and H(n=2) atoms have been measured in a diamond growing microwave reactor operating with hydrocarbon/Ar/H2 gas mixtures as functions of height (z) above the substrate surface and process conditions. The monitored species are each localized in the hot plasma region, where Tgas∼3000 K, and their respective column densities are each reproduced, quantitatively, by two-dimensional (r,z) modeling of the plasma chemistry. The H(n=2) distribution is seen to peak nearer the substrate, reflecting its sensitivity both to thermal chemistry (which drives the formation of ground state H atoms) and the distributions of electron density (ne) and temperature (Te). All three column densities are found to be sensitively dependent on the C/H ratio in the process gas mixture but insensitive to the particular choice of hydrocarbon (CH4 and C2H2). The excellent agreement between measured and predicted column densities for all three probed species, under all process conditions investigated, encourages confidence in the predicted number densities of other of the more abundant radical species adjacent to the growing diamond surface which, in turn, reinforces the view that CH3 radicals are the dominant growth species in microwave activated hydrocarbon/Ar/H2 gas mixtures used in the chemical vapor deposition of microcrystalline and single crystal diamond samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The boundaries of the diamond deposition region in the C-H-O (Bachmann) atomic phase composition diagram have been reproduced successfully for 38 different C, H, and O containing gas mixtures using the CHEMKIN computer package, together with just two criteria—a minimum mole fraction of methyl radicals [CH[sub 3]] and a limiting value of the [H]/[C[sub 2]H[sub 2]] ratio. The diamond growth/no-growth boundary coincides with the line along which the input mole fractions of C and O are equal. For every gas mixture studied, no-growth regions are found to coincide with a negligible (<10[sup -10]) mole fraction of CH[sub 3] radicals, while for gas mixtures lying within the diamond growth region the CH[sub 3] mole fraction is ∼10[sup -7]. Each no-growth→diamond growth boundary is seen to be accompanied by a 2-3 order of magnitude step in CH[sub 3] mole fraction. The boundary between diamond and nondiamond growth is less clearly defined, but can be reproduced by assuming a critical, temperature dependent [H]/[C[sub 2]H[sub 2]] ratio (0.2, in the case that T[sub gas]=2000 K) that reflects the crucial role of H atoms in the etching of nondiamond phases. The analysis allows prediction of the composition process window for good quality diamond growth for all stable input gas mixtures considered in this study. © 2001 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diamond synthesis by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) from carbon-containing gas mixtures has by now long been an industrial reality, but commercial interest and investment into the technology has grown dramatically in the last several years. This Feature Article surveys recent advances in our understanding of the gas-phase chemistry of microwave-activated methane/hydrogen plasmas used for diamond CVD, including that of added boron-, nitrogen- and oxygen-containing dopant species. We conclude by considering some of the remaining challenges in this important area of contemporary materials science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum mechanical and hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical cluster models were used to investigate possible reaction mechanisms whereby gas-phase NHx (x = 0-2), CNHx (x = 0, 1), and OH radicals can add to, and incorporate in, a C-C dimer bond on the C(100):H 2 × 1 diamond surface during chemical vapor deposition (CVD) from microwave-activated C/H containing gas mixtures containing trace amounts of added N or O. Three N incorporation routes are identified, initiated by N, NH, and CN(H) addition to a surface radical site, whereas only OH addition was considered as the precursor to O incorporation. Each is shown to proceed via a ring-opening/ring-closing reaction mechanism analogous to that identified previously for the case of CH3 addition (and CH2 incorporation) in diamond growth from a pure C/H plasma. On the basis of the relative abundances of N atoms and NH radicals close to the growing diamond surface, the former is identified as the more probable carrier of the N atoms appearing in CVD grown diamond, but fast H-shifting reactions postaddition encourage the view that NH is the more probable migrating and incorporating species. CN radical addition is deemed less probable but remains an intriguing prospect, since, if the ring-closed structure is reached, this mechanism has the effect of adding two heavy atoms, with the N atom sitting above the current growth layer and thus offering a potential nucleation site for next-layer growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a combined experimental and modeling study of microwave-activated dilute CH4/N2/H2 plasmas, as used for chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of diamond, under very similar conditions to previous studies of CH4/H2, CH4/H2/Ar, and N2/H2 gas mixtures. Using cavity ring-down spectroscopy, absolute column densities of CH(X, v = 0), CN(X, v = 0), and NH(X, v = 0) radicals in the hot plasma have been determined as functions of height, z, source gas mixing ratio, total gas pressure, p, and input power, P. Optical emission spectroscopy has been used to investigate, with respect to the same variables, the relative number densities of electronically excited species, namely, H atoms, CH, C2, CN, and NH radicals and triplet N2 molecules. The measurements have been reproduced and rationalized from first-principles by 2-D (r, z) coupled kinetic and transport modeling, and comparison between experiment and simulation has afforded a detailed understanding of C/N/H plasma-chemical reactivity and variations with process conditions and with location within the reactor. The experimentally validated simulations have been extended to much lower N2 input fractions and higher microwave powers than were probed experimentally, providing predictions for the gas-phase chemistry adjacent to the diamond surface and its variation across a wide range of conditions employed in practical diamond-growing CVD processes. The strongly bound N2 molecule is very resistant to dissociation at the input MW powers and pressures prevailing in typical diamond CVD reactors, but its chemical reactivity is boosted through energy pooling in its lowest-lying (metastable) triplet state and subsequent reactions with H atoms. For a CH4 input mole fraction of 4%, with N2 present at 1-6000 ppm, at pressure p = 150 Torr, and with applied microwave power P = 1.5 kW, the near-substrate gas-phase N atom concentration, [N]ns, scales linearly with the N2 input mole fraction and exceeds the concentrations [NH]ns, [NH2]ns, and [CN]ns of other reactive nitrogen-containing species by up to an order of magnitude. The ratio [N]ns/[CH3]ns scales proportionally with (but is 10²-10³ times smaller than) the ratio of the N2 to CH4 input mole fractions for the given values of p and P, but [N]ns/[CN]ns decreases (and thus the potential importance of CN in contributing to N-doped diamond growth increases) as p and P increase. Possible insights regarding the well-documented effects of trace N2 additions on the growth rates and morphologies of diamond films formed by CVD using MW-activated CH4/H2 gas mixtures are briefly considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a combined experimental/modeling study of microwave activated dilute N2/H2 and NH3/H2 plasmas as a precursor to diagnosis of the CH4/N2/H2 plasmas used for the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of N-doped diamond. Absolute column densities of H(n = 2) atoms and NH(X³S-, v = 0) radicals have been determined by cavity ring down spectroscopy, as a function of height (z) above a molybdenum substrate and of the plasma process conditions, i.e., total gas pressure p, input power P, and the nitrogen/hydrogen atom ratio in the source gas. Optical emission spectroscopy has been used to investigate variations in the relative number densities of H(n = 3) atoms, NH(A³π) radicals, and N2(C³πu) molecules as functions of the same process conditions. These experimental data are complemented by 2-D (r, z) coupled kinetic and transport modeling for the same process conditions, which consider variations in both the overall chemistry and plasma parameters, including the electron (Te) and gas (T) temperatures, the electron density (ne), and the plasma power density (Q). Comparisons between experiment and theory allow refinement of prior understanding of N/H plasma-chemical reactivity, and its variation with process conditions and with location within the CVD reactor, and serve to highlight the essential role of metastable N2(A³S+u) molecules (formed by electron impact excitation) and their hitherto underappreciated reactivity with H atoms, in converting N2 process gas into reactive NHx (x = 0-3) radical species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]