Recent Trends of Moderate-Pressure Microwave Plasma-Enhanced CVD

—From Diamond to Nanocarbons—

Abstract

Recent trends of CVD techniques by using moderate-pressure microwave plasmas are reviewed. Microwave plasma sources generate stable and high-density plasmas typically at pressures of 10 to 100 Torr. They have been developed exclusively to deposit artificial diamond films and are increasingly used to deposit nanostructured carbon materials. The deposition mechanism and electrical properties of nanocrystalline diamond films and carbon nanowalls are described.