Characterization of Synthetic Diamond Thin Films

High-pressure, microwave plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition is employed to deposit diamond thin films, using a gas mixture of methane and hydrogen on single-crystal silicon substrates. The deposition rate is approximately 1 micron/h. As-deposited diamond thin films on a silicon substrate and free-standing diamond thin films are analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction. Thermal stability of free-standing diamond thin films is studied in oxygen and argon ambient, separately, using thermogravimetric analysis