Plasma chemistry and thin film deposition in discharges excited by intense microwave beams

The results of chemical reactions and thin film growth by means of freely localized space discharge excited by convergent pulsed microwave beams are presented. The main properlies of microwave discharges are described. Original schemes for discharge excitation in both gas media and vacuum (a flare near the surface of a target irradiated by a powerful microwave beam) are given. The pulsed discharge occupies the near axis region of the vacuum chamber being located far away from the chamber walls. Thus, the main advantage of the scheme is the possibility to build, taking it as a basis, a super-pure plasmatron. The following operations demonstrate the possibilities of the microwave plasma reactor: volumetric quartz (SiO(2)) synthesis: volumetric production of pure SIC; decomposition of CO(2); production of diamond-like films on dielectric and metal substrates by chemical and physical vapour deposition.