FLAME SYNTHESIS OF SINGLE CRYSTAL DIAMOND FILMS

THIN FILM DIAMOND HAS A RARE COMBINATION OF PROPERTIES THAT MAKES IT ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ENGINEERING MATERIALS TO EMERGE RECENTLY. FLAME CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (CVD) IS ANEW SYNTHETIC METHOD DEVELOPED IN THE PAST YEAR. RESEARCHERS IN BOTH JAPAN AND THE U. S. HAVE DISCOVERED THAT AN OXYGEN-ACETYLENE TORCH CAN DEPOSIT DIAMOND FILMS ON A COOLED SUBSTRATE PLACED WITHIN THE FLAME. THE FILMS ARE CURRENTLY POLYCRYSTALLINE, BUT DEPOSIT AT RATES APPROACHING 100 MICRON/HR. PHASE I WILL CONSTRUCT A NOVEL FLAME REACTORBASED ON A SMALL OXYGEN-ACETYLENE TORCH AND APPLY GAS-PHASE IN-SITU DIAGNOSTICS TO ELUCIDATE THE GROWTH CHEMISTRY OF FLAME CVD AND IMPROVE THE FILM QUALITY. THE GOAL OF PHASE I IS TO DEMONSTRATE THE DEPOSITION OF HIGH QUALITY, POLYCRYSTALLINE DIAMOND FILMS COVERING ABOUT 1 CM(2). THIS GOAL ESSENTIALLY WILL PLACE FLAME CVD ON A PAR WITH EXISTING TECHNOLOGIES (PLASMA AND HOT FILAMENT CVD). PHASE II WILL SYSTEMATICALLY IMPROVE THE CRYSTALLINITY AND GRAIN SIZE OF THE FILMS UNTIL SINGLE CRYSTAL DIAMOND GROWTH IS ACHIEVED.