Thin Film Diamond

Researchers in materials, physics and mechanical engineering will find this book a timely review of a rapidly advancing field and it will provide practicing engineers in the elctronics and manufacturing industries with a valuable overview of thin film diamond for years to come - Diamond Films and Technology ThIS volume contaInS a selectIOn of InvIted revIew papers presented at a Royal SocIety DIscussIOn meetIng on ThIn FIlm DIamond held In London on 15 and 16 July 1992 The topIC of low pressure synthesIs has attracted world wIde Interest and become IncreasIngly active In recent years due to the pOSSIble use of dIamond films In commerCIal apphcatlOns Until recently commercIal dIamond synthesIs was almost entIrely by the hIgh pressure hIgh temperature technIque In whIch dIamond IS precIpItated as an eqUlhbnum phase from a carbon-contaInIng hqUld metal catalyst In thIS way crystals may be formed up to 10mm or so In sIze The metastable low pressure techmques cannot compete In cost but can be used to fabrIcate large area wafers or predetermIned shapes not pOSSIble by other means Most of the low pressure techmques stem from the work of Eversole whICh was first reported In 1962 He exposed a hot dIamond substrate alternately to a hydrocarbon gas, whIch deposIted a mIxture of dIamond and graphIte, and then to hydrogen, whICh preferen­ tIally etched away the graphite In later developments th~se two stages have been combIned to form a contInUOUS process and dIffer only In the way the etchant IS generated In thIS volume an hIstorIcal overvIew of these low pressure growth techmques and a deSCrIptIOn of dIamond and crystal morphology IS gIVen by John Angus and hIS co-authors In theIr paper on the chemICal vapour depOSItIon of dIamond James Butler and RIchard WoodIn Front Matter....Pages i-ix Chemical vapour deposition of diamond....Pages 1-14 Thin film diamond growth mechanisms....Pages 15-30 Microwave plasma CVD and related techniques for low pressure diamond synthesis....Pages 31-53 Local epitaxial growth of diamond on nickel from the vapour phase....Pages 55-61 The optical and electronic properties of semiconducting diamond....Pages 63-74 The thermal conductivity of cvd diamond films....Pages 75-81 Electron irradiation and heat treatment of polycrystalline cvd diamond....Pages 83-90 Strength, fracture and erosion properties of cvd diamond....Pages 91-105 Deposition of diamond-like carbon....Pages 107-116 Applications of diamond-like carbon thin films....Pages 117-126 Diamond as a wear-resistant coating....Pages 127-141 Thermal and optical applications of thin film diamond....Pages 143-152 Back Matter....Pages 153-157 Traditionally, commercial diamond synthesis was achieved almost entirely by the high-pressure, high-temperature technique, but in recent years, low-pressure diamond synthesis has attracted worldwide interest due to the potential commercial application of diamond films. Thin Film Diamond offers reviews of these low-pressure diamond synthesis techniques written by the leading international authorities in the field. This Work, Written By Leading International Authorities, Deals With Nucleation Growth And Processing, Characterization And Electrical, Thermal, Optical And Mechanical Properties Of Thin Film Diamond. The Final Chapters Are Devoted To The Broad Range Of Applications Of This Material.