Abstract

The understanding of the chemical mechanisms occurring in the chemical vapor deposition of diamond, the development of reactor models, and process control and scaling all depend upon detailed knowledge of the composition, chemical kinetics, and transport in the gas phase and on the surface. The application of in situ optical probes to filament-assisted and combustion diamond growth environments will be presented. Atomic, radical, and stable molecular species have been detected using tunable infrared diode laser, resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization, third harmonic generation, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies. A simple model summarizing the current understanding of the growth of this metastable material will be presented.

© 1990 Optical Society of America