NOVEL IN-SITU SPECTROSCOPIC ELLIPSOMETER FOR REAL TIME ANALYSIS OF CVD DIAMOND FILMS

SUCCESSFUL DIAMOND NUCLEATION AND GROWTH BY CVD WILL INVOLVE COMPLEX INDEPENDENT CONTROL OF MULTIPLE PROCESSING VARIABLES. THE PROPOSED IN-PROCESS SENSOR SHOULD ENABLE REAL TIME DETERMINATION OF THE STATE OF THE EVOLVING DIAMOND THIN-FILM. FURTHERMORE, DEVELOPMENT OF SUCH A SENSOR WOULD ENABLE INTELLIGENT PROCESS CONTROL CAPABLE OF MODIFYING A PROCESS TRAJECTORY TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED MICROSTRUCTURE, CHEMISTRY AND FINAL PROPERTIES IN THE DIAMOND THIN-FILM OR STRUCTURE. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP A NOVEL SPECTROSCOPIC ELLIPSOMETER TO MEASURE THE DIELECTRIC RESPONSE OF DIAMOND FILMS AS THEY ARE GROWING BY PLASMA ENHANCED CVD. DIAMOND MATERIALS INSTITUTE PLANS TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL IN TWO PHASES. PHASE I WILL BE THE ASSEMBLY AND TESTING OF A SPLIT RELECTED BEAM SPECTROSCOPIC ELLIPSOMETER (SRBSE). PHASE I WILL TEST TO SEE WHETHER THIS INSTRUMENT CAN DISTINGUISH BETWEEN DIAMOND, ARMORPHOUS CARBON AND GRAPHITE. IF PHASE I RESULTS INDICATE THAT THIS INSTRUMENT IS ABLE TO DISTINGUISH AMONG DIFFERENT TYPES OF CARBON BONDING, THEN PHASE II RESEARCH WILL DEVELOP SRBSE FOR IN-SITU DIAMOND FILM ANALYSIS. COMPUTER SOFTWARE WILL BE WRITTEN TO PERMIT AUTOMATIC DATA COLLECTION,REDUCTION AND DISPLAY. THE ELLIPSOMETER WILL BE MOUNTED ON A DMI PECVD REACTOR AND WILL BE USED TO MEASURE THE DIELECTRIC RESPONSE OF A DIAMOND FILM AS IT GROWNS.