• PDF / 4,581,887 Bytes
• 6 Pages / 576 x 777.6 pts Page_size
• 0 Downloads / 238 Views

DOWNLOAD

REPORT

---

available at hardware stores to realize that the lag between scientific discoveries and their large-scale applications can be very long. Diamond films are in fact being used today in commercial applications. Markets are growing apace and will continue to do so—perhaps at an increasing rate—as the science of CVD diamond synthesis is better understood, particularly with respect to the control of film microstructure. This issue of MRS Bulletin assesses the current state of the CVD diamond field, both from the most fundamental scientific points of view and also in terms of its actual as well as potential fields of applications. Because of the space limitations imposed by a single issue of the Bulletin, the guest editors had to be very selective in the choice of subject matter— both with respect to purely scientific information and to the applications to be covered. Low-pressure diamond synthesis has attracted a large and distinguished group of scientists who have discussed their work at periodically convened national and international conferences and in journals either specifically devoted to this field or concerned with a wider subject matter. A number of review articles and books have also been devoted to this topic. Much of the relevant literature can be gleaned by consulting the reference lists at the ends of the articles brought together in this issue. In hindsight the work discussed in these pages all seems rather clear and obvious. However examining the history of the development of the ideas and concepts underlying low-pressure diamond synthesis reveals that progress has in fact been very hard-won. It was far from obvious for a very long time why the lowpressure process works. Once it was shown to work, researchers needed to

determine how it could be controlled and optimized. The blood, sweat, and tears expended in this effort are not to be found in these pages, which recount the results and not the arduous labors required to achieve them. Nonetheless we believe that the authors of these papers will give the reader a feeling for the progress that has been made and for the problems that remain to be solved so that further advances can take place. The fruits that await us in the form of actual utilization of diamond films in a myriad of important applications are certain to follow the achievement of an ever-deeper understanding of the fascinating phenomena associated with diamond CVD. Butler and Windischmann give an overview of the developments in CVD diamond synthesis during the past decade. Beginning in the 1980s, micronsized diamond particles were reported by a few groups using hot filaments and a magical (alchemical) recipe of hydrocarbons and hydrogen. Now near the end of the 1990s, the basic science of the diamond growth by CVD is wellunderstood; diverse plasma and thermal techniques have been developed for deposition of polycrystalline films severalmm thick and over 12 in. in diameter. Many companies are commercializing a wide range of products, and the cost of deposition has dropped by over three orders