Diamond Thin Film Growth Using Seeded Supersonic Beams

Diamond exhibits physical properties that make it an ideal material from which to construct electronic devices for high temperature, high frequency and/or high radiation applications. A major obstacle to the mass production of diamond electronics is the lack of a method for growing large area single crystal thin films of diamond on other materials. All reliable high deposition rate diamond growth techniques to date require elevated temperatures, severely limiting the choice of substrate materials. Schmidt will explore the use of seeded supersonic beams to deposit diamond heteroepitaxially on silicon. The kinetic energy imparted to feedstock gas molecules via supersonic expansion in a lighter carrier gas can be accurately controlled and will serve to activate the feedstock during surface-molecule collisions while the substrate remains at ambient temperature. Several variations of this scheme that will vary total energy delivered to the growth surface and concentration of molecular hydrogen will also be explored.