POLISHING OF POLYCRYSTALLINE DIAMOND FILMS

AN INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUE FOR THE POLISHING OF POLYCRYSTALLINE DIAMOND FILMS WHICH USES A HIGH FLUX, HIGH TRANSLATIONAL ENERGY (5 TO 10 EV) ATOMIC OXYGEN BEAM AT GLANCING INCIDENCE TO ETCH SURFACE ROUGHNESS IS DESCRIBED. THE METHOD OPERATES IN A REACTIVE ETCHANT ENERGY RANGE, AT HIGH FLUX, THAT IS NOT OBTAINED BY ANY OTHER CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL METHOD. AS A RESULT, THE TECHNIQUE IS CAPABLE OF HIGH POLISHING RATES (0.2 MUM/MIN) AT LOW SUBSTRATE TEMPERATURES. IN ADDITION, IT IS NON-INTRUSIVE AND IS INTRINSICALLY SCALABLE FOR LARGE AREA (1000 CM(2)) POLISHING. RESEARCHERS HAVE DEMONSTRATED EFFICIENT, HIGH RATE DIAMOND ETCHING WITH A SIGNIFICANT DEGREE OF SURFACE FINISHING. EXISTING POLISHING TECHNIQUES SUFFER FROM ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING DEFICIENCIES: SLOW POLISHING RATE, SMALL POLISHING AREAS, HIGH SUBSTRATE TEMPERATURES DURING POLISHING, THE NEED TO AGGRESSIVELY HANDLE THE DIAMOND FILM OR SUBSTRATE, AND THE POTENTIAL FOR DEFECT AND IMPURITY INCORPORATION INTO THE DIAMOND FILM RESULTING FROM INTERACTION WITH ENERGETIC IONS. THE TECHNIQUE IS CAPABLE OF OVERCOMING ALL OF THESE DEFICIENCIES.