GROWTH AND CHARACTERIZATION OF DIAMOND FILMS ON NONDIAMOND SUBSTRATES FOR ELECTRONIC APPLICATIONS

This review concentrates on recent advances in the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and characterization of diamond films on nondiamond substrates. Major growth techniques including hot filament CVD, microwave, RF or dc plasma enhanced CVD, and combustion flame growth as well as a number of hybrid and novel approaches are described and analyzed. Results from the major categories of diamond film characterization including diamond phase identification, nucleation and interfacial phenomena, morphology and defects as well as their correlations with electrical properties are examined and discussed. Although most of the information presented in this paper is equally applicable to protective and wear resistant coating application, emphasis is placed in the areas most pertinent to microelectronics. Although it may take several years to achieve single crystal diamond films on nondiamond substrates for semiconductor device applications, numerous other microelectronic applications such as thermistors or heat sinks will benefit soon from the rapid development of the deposition techniques as should many hard coating and optical window applications. Continuous research and successes in achieving device quality homoepitaxial films and the subsequent device fabrication therein as well as a better understanding of the fundamental nature of diamond nucleation and growth on nondiamond substrates are essential for ultimately achieving the heteroepitaxial growth of single crystal diamond films.