Very high growth rate chemical vapor deposition of single-crystal diamond.
Diamond possesses extraordinary material properties, a result that has given rise to a broad range of scientific and technological applications. This study reports the successful production of high-quality single-crystal diamond with microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) techniques. The diamond single crystals have smooth, transparent surfaces and other characteristics identical to that of high-pressure, high-temperature synthetic diamond. In addition, the crystals can be produced at growth rates from 50 to 150 mum/h, which is up to 2 orders of magnitude higher than standard processes for making polycrystalline MPCVD diamond. This high-quality single-crystal MPCVD diamond may find numerous applications in electronic devices as high-strength windows and in a new generation of high-pressure instruments requiring large single-crystal anvils.
Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5251 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington, DC 20015; and Department of Physics, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL 35294.
Chih-Shiue
CS
Yan
Yogesh K
YK
Vohra
Ho-Kwang
HK
Mao
Russell J
RJ
Hemley