SBIR-STTR Award

In the past several years there has been much research and many publications regarding diamond films. However, it is clear that there must be significant improvement in thin film processing leading to a situation where diamond thin films can be reproduced reliably before cost effective device fabrication can proceed. The developments effective process monitoring and control methods compatible with normal device fabrication techniques which will permit in-situ monitoring of: phase purity, morphology, and film stoichiometry are essential. This research and development proposal focuses on the demonstration and development of a unique in-situ process monitoring instrument configuration that will provide critical characterization data during and after film deposition. The techniques to be used include integration and development of a combination of advanced in-situ Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE), atomic absorption and optical emission spectroscopy (AAS and OS), and Glow Discharge Mass Spectroscopy (GDMS). These techniques have been previously developed by TTL techniques and effectively utilized in other deposition areas. In particular, se, is an in-situ probe which will provide critical information during deposition and post deposition processing regarding the quality of the diamond films. In this research we will demonstrate process control of diamond thin films using this configuration of instrumentation in a low temperature plasma deposition. Anticipated benefits/potential commercial applications the result of this research will provide a repeatable and reliable low temperature diamond like carbon thin film deposition process which will be totally reproducible and controllable. This process will be useful in the deposition of both infrared semiconductor devices and wear resistant coatings.Key words: film stoichiometry, in-situ, spectroscopic ellipsometry,

Phase II will focus on: a) difficulty in controlling stress in the film, b) adhesion of deposited film to different substrate materials, c) greater detail in modeling of the fluid-dynamics and the relationship of the fluid-dynamic to process characteristics and film properties, and d) reproducibility of diamond film properties. This research and development proposal focuses on the applications of our diamond deposition model and our *in-situ* monitoring instruments to characterize and control diamond and diamond like film deposition processes. In phase ii project, TTL techniques proposes: 1) to implement the additional instruments which have been installed in our plasma deposition system and optimization of the more deposition performances, 2) to develop a more in-depth process model useful for controlling the deposition process, 3) to implement additional software (nist "main 2") for analysis of spectorscopic ellipsometer data, 4) to implement in-situ instruments for film stress measurement, and 5) to optimize instrument package for adaptation for scale-up productions. This research will be performed using *in-situ* monitoring instruments such as glow-discharge mass spectrometer/energy analyzer (gdms/ea), optical emission/atomic absorption spectrometer (OES/AAS), spectroscopic ellipsometer (se), and langmuir probe. In addition to these instruments proposed in Phase I work, raman spectroscopy and IR pyrometer will be utilized for management of gas and species temperature and with se to management of stress contained in the growth diamond film. Anticipated benefits/potential commercial applications - TTL will commercialize the completion of this research in these ways: a) development of additional research, b) development of process control instrumentation, and c) development of coating business for those who do not wish to do the diamond deposition themselves.

Keywords:
*In-Situ*, Spectroscopic Ellipsometry, Raman Spectrometer, Process Control, DLC, Diamond Film