The distribution of hydrogen in polycrystalline CVD diamond

Abstract The location of the hydrogen prevalent in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond has long been of much interest, not least because of the information it reveals about the H-driven growth mechanism. We have used micro-scanning elastic recoil detection analysis to map the hydrogen distribution in three dimensions in polycrystalline CVD diamond. The interface between two CVD layers, one grown with, and one grown without oxygen in the growth mixture has been studied for its hydrogen concentration. An upper limit on bulk hydrogen concentration has been determined. The possibility of hydrogen trapping in the bulk is also discussed.