In situ FTIR spectroscopic detection of adsorbed species on sapphire substrates in a diamond ECR-PACVD system

In situ Fourier Transform Infrared Reflection Absorption Spectroscopy (FTIRRAS) has been used to study the adsorbed plasma species on sapphire substrate throughout the nucleation and deposition stages under diamond deposition conditions. The focus of this work has been on one of the most fundamental questions in the area of diamond film synthesis that concerns the gas species (precursors) responsible for diamond nucleation and growth especially on foreign substrates. It is experimentally shown here that the most probable precursor for diamond nucleation in methane-hydrogen plasma are methyl radicals. Diamond deposition on randomly oriented sapphire substrates has been successfully achieved under low pressure-low temperature deposition conditions using an electron cyclotron resonance microwave plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition (ECR-PACVD) system. The deposited thin films were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy.