Low temperature hot filament chemical vapor deposition of Ultrananocrystalline Diamond films with tunable sheet resistance for electronic power devices

Abstract

This paper describes the results from systematic experiments performed to investigate the influence of different substrate-filaments distances, surface-substrate temperatures and reaction of precursors during the growth of Ultrananocrystalline Diamond (UNCD) films via the hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) process. The experimental results provide valuable information to understand the important role of key molecules (CHx, x=1, 2, 3) and atoms (H), resulting from the cracking of precursor molecules (CH4, H2) on the hot surface of the filaments, and the contribution of argon (Ar) inert gas atoms, all interacting on the surface of the substrates when using different filaments-substrate distances to produce films with different structures and properties. The interaction of the cracked molecular and atomic species at different filamentssubstrate distances, play a critical role in the nucleation and growth of films with different structures, as observed by complementary analytical techniques. Films grown at 5, 15, and 30 mm filaments-substrate distances exhibit graphite-disordered graphene phases, while those grown at 20 mm distances exhibit mixed large UNCD-minor graphite mixed phases, and those grown at 25 and 35 mm distances exhibit pure UNCD phase. UNCD films grown at ~ 600 ˚C exhibit grain boundaries with sp 2 and Trans-Polyacetylene (TP-A) dangling chemical bonds and low sheet resistance (~5 ), while UNCD films grown at relativity low temperature (~490 °C) exhibit high sheet resistance (~8 M) and more TP-A dangling bonds. The results presented in this paper indicate that UNCD and mixed UNCD/disordered graphene/graphite films can be grown with tailored resistivity enabling potential applications in electronic power devices.

Laser Micro-Raman Spectroscopy of CVD Nanocrystalline Diamond Thin Film

“…Nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) thin films were prepared by CVD as a high-tech coating inherits some properties from bulk diamond [3] [9]. NCD films can be used in many applications such as optics, electronics [10] and photonics due to special physical [11], optical [12], and electronic properties [13]. The most important applications of NCD films include biomedical applications [14][15], microwave and IR windows, nitrogen-vacancy single photon sources [16] [17], coherent anti-Stocks Raman scattering [18], color centers in nanodiamonds [19],UV sensors, and many other applications [20][21] [22].…”

Photoluminescence in Raman Scattering: Effects of HfO2 Template Layer on Ultrananocrystalline Diamond (UNCD) Films Grown on Stainless Steel Substrates

“…More details can be found in Refs. [7] and [8]. For the experiments discussed here, the growth phase, with filaments heated to 2300 ∘ C and the substrate heated to 460 ∘ C, lasted 4 hours.…”

“…The UNCD films analyzed in this study were grown in a hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) system previously described in the literature [7,8]. The films were grown using a HFCVD system from Blue Wave Semiconductors, which has a holder with capacity for growing films on substrates with up to 100-mm diameter.…”

Numerical simulation of the activation process of supersonic gas flows by a microwave discharge.

“…A popular tool for simulating the microwave plasma dynamics is COMSOL Multiphysics. Previously, this program was used for modeling of diamond deposition with microwave plasma activation [3]. Also, this software package was used to simulate the flow in a space thrusters [4].…”