Wide area polycrystalline diamond coating and stress control by sp hot filament CVD reactor

This paper discusses large area uniform diamond coatings deposited in the sp³ Inc. Model 600 hot filament diamond deposition system (made by sp³ Inc., California, USA). This model combines proven hot filament thermal reactor technology with advanced controls to produce high quality polycrystalline diamond films over a maximum square area of 380 mm × 380 mm on a wide variety of substrate materials such as carbide-based cutting tools, wear surfaces, Si wafers, etc. The reactor is characterized using instrumented 300 mm Si wafers and modified, accordingly, to optimize performance on 300 mm diameter wafers or multiple 100 mm diameter wafers. Roles of temperature and other process parameters in stress formation and development in the diamond thin films, grown in a wide area hot filament deposition system, are discussed along with some of the ways of controlling these stresses on a production basis.