Diamond producing method and dc plasma enhanced cvd apparatus

Abstract

Diamond is grown on a substrate (S) from a mixture of a carbon-containing gas and hydrogen gas, by a DC plasma enhanced CVD process of applying a DC voltage between a stage electrode ( 12 ) for holding the substrate (S) and a voltage-applying electrode ( 13 ). During the step of growing diamond by applying a DC voltage, a single pulse voltage of opposite polarity to the DC voltage for diamond growth is applied between the stage electrode and the voltage-applying electrode at a predetermined timing. Diamond of quality is produced at a stable growth rate.

1 . A DC plasma enhanced CVD apparatus comprising
 a vacuum chamber,   a stage electrode for holding a substrate and a voltage-applying electrode disposed in the vacuum chamber in combination,   a DC power supply for applying a DC voltage between the stage electrode and the voltage-applying electrode,   a pulse voltage stacking unit for stacking a pulse voltage on the output voltage of the DC power supply, and   feed means for feeding a reactant gas into the vacuum chamber,   wherein diamond is grown on the substrate by applying a DC voltage between the stage electrode and the voltage-applying electrode, and voltage control is carried out at a predetermined timing during the diamond growth such that a single pulse voltage of opposite polarity to the DC voltage for diamond growth is applied between the stage electrode and the voltage-applying electrode.