In situ Raman characterization of a diamond film during its growth process in a plasma jet chemical vapor deposition reactor

A setup designed for characterization of a diamond film during its growth in a dc plasma jet chemical vapor deposition reactor is described. It is composed of a pulsed laser and the detector is gated in order to synchronize the Raman detection with the laser pulses. The optical components are designed for working in the visible and near UV. The installation is specially designed for remote detection and can be used in industrial reactors as well as in laboratory experiments. The detectivity of the setup is analyzed through some typical diamond spectra and it is shown that it is of the same order as that of a micro‐Raman multichannel spectrometer. Some results are reported on how the temperature and the quality of the film can be controlled during the deposition process or during its etching by H₂ reactive plasma. These results are discussed and confirmed by ex situ measurements including Raman, infrared, and scanning electron micrographs obtained on the same samples or in the same conditions as for in situ experiments. The secondary nucleation is responsible for the loss of Raman intensity and it could have some cyclic character.