Lower pressure limit of diamond growth in inductively coupled plasma

Diamond growth at pressures under 20m Torr was analyzed by employing inductively coupled plasma (ICP) enhanced chemical vapor deposition. ICP is favored for diamond growth because it offers high electron density of even at pressures under 100m Torr. Plasma diagnostics were conducted using Langmuir probe techniques optical emission spectroscopy. To control the incident ion energy, deposits were obtained employing positive substrate bias. The results are discussed.