HALOGEN ASSISTED DIAMOND DEPOSITION

OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS, WE HAVE GROWN HIGH QUALITY CVD DIAMOND CRYSTALLITES AS CONFIRMED BY RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY, X-RAY DIFFRACTION, AND SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY ON A VARIETY OF SUBSTRATES INCLUDING SILICON USING A LOW TEMPERATURE (<400XC) HALOGEN ASSISTED GROWTH PROCESS THAT IS MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT AND LESS COMPLEX THAN EXISTING HIGH TEMPERATURE CVD PROCESSES THAT GENERALLY REQUIRE SUBSTRATE TEMPERATURES IN EXCESS OF 700XC. THIS PROPOSAL IS FOCUSED ON THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THIS LOW TEMPERATURE PROCESS WITH THE MAIN EMPHASIS ON THE DEPOSITION OF DIAMOND FILM THERMAL MANAGEMENT COATINGS ON SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES. DIAMOND COATED SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES WILL OPERATE UNDER FAR GREATER THERMAL LOADS THAN CAN NON-COATED DEVICES. THE PROPOSED WORK PLAN CALLS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOWER TEMPERATURE DIAMOND DEPOSITION TECHNIQUES THAN ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. THE WORK PLAN FURTHER ENTAILS THE DETERMINATION OF FACTORS WHICH CONTROL THE SIZE OF CRYSTALLITE GROWTH, THAT MINIMIZE THE GROWTH OF AMORPHOUS CARBON AND OTHER IMPURITIES, AND THAT WILL ENABLE THE GROWTH OF CRYSTALLITES TO FORM A CONTINUOUS DIAMOND FILM. ANALYSIS OF THE COMPOSITION AND MORPHOLOGY OF THE DIAMOND COATINGS WILL BE DETERMINED USING RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY, X-RAY DIFFRACTION, AND SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY THROUGHOUT THIS WORK. LOW TEMPERATURE HALOGEN-ASSISTED CVD DIAMOND WILL ALLOW THIN DIAMOND FILM COATINGS TO BE PLACED ON A WIDE VARIETY OF MATERIALS, INCLUDING FINISHED ELECTRONIC DEVICES. THESE MATERIALS WILL BE GREATLY IMPROVED DUE TO DIAMOND'S EXCELLENT THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY, ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE, HARDNESS, CHEMICAL INERTNESS, AND OTHER PROPERTIES.