Influence of Contamination in Repeated Depositions on the Properties of Diamond Films

Carbon contamination attached to a reaction system during the growth of diamond films by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition elicits a decrease in the growth rate of the films, but it does not result in appreciable change in the quality of the films. Good reproducibility in the growth rate is attained by plasma etching of the contamination by carbon tetrafluoride with a small amount of oxygen.