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This paper describes a new method for significantly improving diamond film quality and growth rate on insulating substrates and thin films. The usual method of abrading the substrate surface with diamond particles yields good quality CVD diamond films at reasonable deposition rates on semiconducting materials like silicon. However, on insulating materials like fused silica and sapphire, the conventional method of diamond seeding and surface abrasion almost always results in slow growth rates and poor quality films. Current in-house diamond nucleation and growth studies have focused on depositing CVD diamond on substrates such as fused silica, sapphire, and glass ceramics. Diamond was grown successfully on these types of materials using a sacrificial metal layer method called metal induced nucleation of diamond (MIND). This technique offers a way to deposit diamond on glassy materials with improved adhesion and at lower deposition temperatures (less than 650 degree(s)C). In addition, the MIND technique can be used in combination with metal masking and conventional etching to deposit patterns of diamond. The MIND method was combined with another in-house developed technique called sputtered refractory interlayer nucleation technique (SPRINT). Diamond-crystallite size and orientation can be controlled with SPRINT to fabricate low-scatter diamond films. Both techniques are discussed. A reliable, efficient method for growing diamond on insulating materials significantly enhances the feasibility for practical applications of CVD diamond technology. For example, further development of the MIND technique may provide low-scatter, protective diamond films on sapphire and glass ceramics for visible-wavelength windows and missile domes. For electronic applications, reduction in the growth temperature makes CVD diamond more compatible with existing semiconductor processes. The lower growth temperature also helps to alleviate diffusion problems in metal alloys and facilitates the application of diamond coatings to cutting-tool inserts.
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