Study of diamond growth from a variety of input gases

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Abstract
The gas phase densities of CH3 and CH and the hydrogen dissociation fraction are measured in a hot filament diamond deposition system for each of several different hydrocarbon input gases. The crystal growth rate and the appearance of the diamond grown from the different input gases are also examined. A comparison of the measurements indicates that the nature of the input hydrocarbon is relatively unimportant because fast gas phase reactions completely scramble the identities of the input carbon atoms. The addition of oxygen greatly alters the gas phase densities and other experimental factors such as the filament surface condition. Small concentrations of atomic impurities in the gas phase are also detected using high sensitivity absorption spectroscopy.