DEVELOPMENT OF PHOTO - DEPOSITED DIAMOND FILMS

ADVANCED IN THE GROWTH OF SYNTHETIC DIAMOND FILMS ARE BEGINNING TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO USE THIS EXOTIC MATERIAL FOR NEW APPLICATIONS IN ELECTRONICS, OPTICS, AND MICROSTRUCTURES, HOWEVER, THE PRESENT TECHNOLOGY IS SLOW AND PRODUCES NONUNIFORM FILMS WITH GRAPHIC INCLUSIONS. SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONTROL OF DEPOSITION PURITY AND FILM GROWTH RATE WILL BE NECESSARY BEFORE THIS MATERIAL IS SUITABLE FOR SOME OF ITS PROJECTED AND APPLICATIONS. WE BELIEVE AN APPROACH UTILIZING SELECTIVE LASER PRODUCTION OF THE METHYL RADICAL, BELIEVED TO BE THE BASIC BUILDING BLOCK OF THE DIAMOND FILM, WILL RESULT IN A FILM PURITY UNMATCHED BY OTHER METHODS. WE PROPOSE A SIX MONTH PHASE I EFFORT TO DEMONSTRATE THIS TECHNIQUE EXPERIMENTALLY AND VERIFY THE RESULTING FILM GROWTH RATE AND PURITY. IN A PHASE II PROGRAM, WE WOULD DETERMINE THE DEPENDENCE OF THE FILM GROWTH ON PROCESS CONDITIONS AND OPTIMIZE THE TECHNIQUE.