Understanding the chemistry of low temperature diamond growth: an investigation into the interaction of chlorine and atomic hydrogen at CVD diamond surfaces
S. Proffitt et al., Understanding the chemistry of low temperature diamond growth: an investigation into the interaction of chlorine and atomic hydrogen at CVD diamond surfaces, DIAM RELAT, 9(3-6), 2000, pp. 246-250
The interaction of chlorine with CVD diamond surfaces has been studied usin
g Auger and photoelectron spectroscopy techniques. with reference to the de
velopment of low temperature growth models for diamond using halogen-based
precursors. Chlorine is found to adsorb on the clean CVD surface with a sti
cking probability of similar to 0.001 at 300 K, although this can be enhanc
ed by prehydrogenation of the surface and by raising the substrate temperat
ure. Adsorbed chlorine desorbs from the surface over a wide temperature ran
ge below 500 degrees C, and is also very efficiently etched away by atomic
hydrogen. Chlorine has therefore little tendency to poison the growth surfa
ce, and thus is capable of acting as a catalyst for low temperature growth.
(C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.