Deposition uniformity of ultra nano crystalline diamond on 6" and 8" wafer substrates using a 915MHz plasma assisted CVD diamond reactor

Summary form only given. Due the combination of diamond's mechanical properties with minimal intrinsic surface roughness ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) is a very promising engineered material for microelectromechanical systems applications. To minimize production costs it is desirable to synthesize the material over large substrate areas with very good thickness uniformity. In this paper we discuss the results of experiments to maximize the thickness uniformity of the UNCD material over 150 mm (6") and 200 mm (8") wafers. The experiments were performed using a plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition reactor based on a single mode cavity applicator design operating at 915 MHz. The system technology is now commercially available through Lambda Technologies Inc. The thickness variation across the wafer has been determined by cross sectioning and scanning electron microscopy. The initial uniformity results across 6" wafers of plusmn13% for 4 mum thick films are very promising. The experiments are being continued for 8" wafers