Simple and inexpensive microwave plasma assisted CVD facility
- Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States); and others
A simple and inexpensive microwave plasma assisted CVD facility has been developed and used for synthesis of diamond thin films. The system is similar to those developed by others but includes several unique features that make it particularly economical and safe, yet capable of producing high quality diamond films. A 2.45 GHz magnetron from a commercial microwave oven is used as the microwave power source. A conventional mixture of 0.5% methane in hydrogen is ionized in a bell jar reaction chamber located within a simple microwave cavity. By using a small hydrogen reservoir adjacent to the gas supply, an empty hydrogen tank can be replaced without interrupting film synthesis or causing any drift in plasma characteristics. Hence, films can be grown continuously while storing only a 24-hour supply of explosive gases. System interlocks provide safe start-up and shut-down, and allow unsupervised operation. Here the authors describe the electrical, microwave and mechanical aspects of the system, and summarize the performance of the facility as used to reproducibly synthesize high quality diamond thin films.
- OSTI ID:
- 131215
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-920376-; ISSN 0003-0503; TRN: 95:007049-0207
- Journal Information:
- Bulletin of the American Physical Society, Vol. 37, Issue 9; Conference: Meeting of the American Physical Society, Indianapolis, IN (United States), 16-20 Mar 1992; Other Information: PBD: Dec 1992
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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