Semiconductor Diamond Technology

The semiconducting diamond technology development this quarter has concentrated on the continuing advance of a low pressure rf-plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition technique and the advance of the surface chemistry facility. Basic studies of the low pressure rf-plasma assisted CVD system have shown the plasma to be a chemically reactive plasma which converts CH4 into C2H2, produces atomic H, and gasifies graphitic carbon. The power input into the discharge is sufficient to maintain the discharge in the red mode where the plasma emission is dominated by atomic hydrogen emission. The atomic hydrogen population is estimated to be at approximately 2500K. The surface chemistry facility will be an important tool enabling elucidation of CVD processes in diamond growth. JS