ORIGIN, EVOLUTION AND SOME PROBLEMS OF DIAMOND CVD

B.V.Spitsyn and A.E.Alexenko

Institute of Physical Chemistry RAS, Moscow, Russia

On totality of properties diamond may qualified as supermaterial.  However it potential in science and industry disclosed properly only with appearance of modern CVD methods of diamond and diamond films (DF)synthesis.  Issued on 1981 publication in the subject of Russian researchers apparently triggered relative work of Japanese, and then and other our colleagues on all five continents.  Development of various methods in the diamond CVD, and impressive academic and practical results are obliged to efforts of thousands researchers in hundreds laboratories.  The authors of this short review and their colleague in our Lab continue a modest contribution to some of the most challenging directions.  We prolonged in-situ doping of epitaxial DF by phosphorus and sulfur.  Hall method confirmed formation of diamond with an electron type conductivity.  The combination of different methods of vapor phase activation allows us essentially, in 2-3 times, to increase growth rate of polycrystalline DF, with retaining of their quality.  Obtained for the first time epitaxial AlN films on ~ (111) diamond, is, supposedly the way to advanced heterostructures for solid state electronics.

Appreciating an impressive success of the diamond community, we shall note some unsolved following problems: the mechanism of nucleation and growth CVD-diamond, synthesis continuous ultra-thin DF, low-temperature DF deposition, DF heteroepitaxy, and controlled DF with n-type semiconductivity.

The successful advance in the solution of the above-stated problems requires interdisciplinarary approaches and international scientific cooperation.  Outstanding opportunities for this provides us forthcoming ADC/FCT’01.