FREESTANDING SINGLE-CRYSTALLINE CHEMICALLY VAPOR-DEPOSITED DIAMOND FILMS

Free-standing chemically vapor deposited (CVD) single-crystalline diamond films have been fabricated by a sequence of processes including high energy ion implantation, microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, and the final separation of the diamond epilayer from the substrate by heating in oxygen. The homoepitaxial diamond film separated from the substrate is about 15 mum thick. It is flat and transparent, and exhibits a sharp diamond Raman peak without nondiamond background signals. This process is promising for mass production of large-area single-crystalline diamonds with the size restricted only by the availability of one large initial diamond substrate. The initial substrate is expensive but can be used repetitively to produce a large number of single-crystalline CVD diamond films.