Laser plasma source of amorphic diamond

Abstract

Amorphic diamond films characterized by a high percentage of sp3 bonds have been prepared in an UHV environment with a laser plasma source of carbon ions. Peak power densities in excess of 1011 W/cm2 were found necessary to produce films at growth rates of 0.5 μm/h over areas of 20 cm2 having optical quality sufficient to show bright interference colors.