Plasma properties of a hydrocarbon arcjet used in the plasma deposition of diamond thin films

Abstract
Plasma-deposited thin films of polycrystalline diamond were achieved with an arcjet plasma. The jet operated with hydrogen gas with small admixtures of CH4. The diamond films were highly nonuniform, probably due to the very high gradients of the chemical species and temperatures within the arcjet-substrate system. The arcjet apparatus, and optical emission spectra and Langmuir probe diagnostics of the plasma are described. Also presented are results for the surface chemical analysis of the diamond film using surface analysis by laser ionization.