Plasma environment during hot cathode direct current discharge plasma chemical vapor deposition of diamond films

The plasma characteristics have been investigated in situ by using optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and the Langmuir probe during hot cathode direct current discharge plasma chemical vapor deposition of diamond films. The changes of atomic H and CH radical in the ground state have been calculated quantitatively according to the results of OES and the Langmuir probe measurement as discharge current density varied. It is shown that atomic H and CH radicals both in the ground state and in the excited state increase with the enhancement of the discharge current density in the plasma. The electron density and CH emission intensity increase linearly with the enhancement of discharge current densities. The generation of different carbon-containing radicals is related to the elevation of electron temperature. Combining the growth process of diamond films and the diagnostic results, it is shown that atomic H in the excited state may improve the diamond growth efficiently, and the increase of electron temperature and density plays an important role in the increase of the deposition rate of diamond films.