A comparative Raman study of thermal stability of amorphous diamond films deposited with different substrate bias

This paper describes thermal stability of amorphous diamond films deposited using a filtered arc as a function of the substrate bias using a comparative Raman investigation. The thermal stability decreases with increasing substrate bias. The films with the richest sp 3 content might not have the best thermal stability. Annealing results in an upward shift and a narrowing of the G-peak. Visible Raman can provide a powerful way to follow the evolution and ordering of sp 2 sites in the films.