Apparatus for producing diamonds by chemical vapor deposition and articles produced therefrom

Claim 2

Apparatus for producing diamond articles by chemical vapor deposition, comprising: a closed reaction chamber, formed by chamber walls and having at least one throat and at least one exhaust means, said chamber having means to maintain said chamber at a desired pressure; at least one jet producing plasma torch connected to said throat of said chamber; a chemical vapor deposition zone formed by zone walls separate from said chamber walls, said zone walls being confined within said chamber walls, and at least one of said walls of said zone being a substrate capable of rotation; said torch having its jet discharge end aligned to trap a jet produced by said torch within said zone, and said zone being enclosed on all sides except the side facing said torch; drive means to rotate said substrate; cooling means to cool said substrate to a set temperature; a gas feeding system for feeding gas into said plasma torch; and nozzle means for introducing a carbon compound into said zone near said throat of said chamber or through said gas feeding system of said torch.

Claim 3

The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said plasma torch is a DC arc discharge plasma torch, a RF plasma torch or a microwave plasma torch.

Claim 4

The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said substrate is titanium, molybdenum, nickel, copper, tungsten, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, silicon aluminum oxynitride, boron nitride, alumina, tungsten carbide, diamond, sapphire or silicon.

Claim 5

The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said article is a heat sink or a circuit substrate for semiconductor devices.

Claim 6

The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein surfaces of said substrate are shaped to form said article.

Claim 7

Improved apparatus for producing diamond articles by chemical vapor deposition comprising: a closed reaction chamber having a throat and an exhaust means, said chamber having means to maintain said chamber at a desired pressure; a partially enclosed cuneate shaped chemical vapor deposition zone formed by two pairs of opposing sides, a first pair of opposing sides of said cuneate shape being substantially planar, converging substrates wherein each substrate is capable of rotation along an axis perpendicular to the plane of said substrate, a second pair of opposing sides being stationary faces; drive means to rotate each said substrate; cooling means to cool each said substrate to a set temperature; a DC arc plasma torch connected to said throat of said chamber, said torch having its jet discharge end aligned to trap a jet produced by said torch within said zone; a gas feeding system for feeding hydrogen or a mixture of hydrogen and argon into said plasma torch; a nozzle means to introduce a carbon compound into said zone near said throat of said chamber or through said gas feeding system of said torch.

Claim 8

Improved apparatus for producing diamond articles by chemical vapor deposition comprising: a closed reaction chamber having a throat and an exhaust means, said chamber having means to maintain said chamber at a desired pressure; a partially enclosed cuneate shaped chemical vapor deposition zone formed by two pairs of opposing sides, a first pair of opposing sides of said cuneate shape being substantially planar, converging substrates wherein each substrate is capable of rotation along an axis perpendicular to the plane of said substrate, a second pair of opposing sides being stationary faces; drive means to rotate each said substrate; cooling means to cool each said substrate to a set temperature; a DC arc plasma torch connected to said throat of said chamber, said torch having its jet discharge end aligned to trap a jet produced by said torch within said zone; a gas feeding system for feeding hydrogen or a mixture of hydrogen and argon into said plasma torch; a nozzle means to introduce a carbon compound into said zone near said throat of said chamber or through said gas feeding system of said torch.

Claim 9

The apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said drive means are capable of providing rotation of said substrates in opposite directions to improve mixing of said jet within said zone.

Claim 10

The apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said zone further comprises adjusting means to change shape of said cuneate shape of said zone.

Claim 11

The apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said substrate is titanium, nickel, copper, tungsten, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, silicon aluminum oxyintride, boron nitride, alumina, tungsten carbide, diamond, sapphire, silicon or molybdenum.

Claim 12

The apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said cooling means comprise a substantially planar cooling plate positioned in parallel and in adjustable relationship with each said substrate for transferring heat from said substrate to said cooling plate.

Claim 13

The apparatus according to claim 10 wherein said cooling means further comprise means for adjusting position of said heat exchanger to a position needed to attain said set temperature on said substrate.

Claim 14

The apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said article is a heat sink or a circuit substrate for semiconductor devices.

Claim 17

The method according to claim 13 wherein said inert gas is helium or argon.

Claim 18

The apparatus according to claim 13 wherein said mixture is about 60% by volume of hydrogen and about 40% by volume of said inert gas.

Claim 19

The apparatus according to claim 13 wherein the ratio of hydrogen to carbon compound is about 50 to about 200: about 1.

Claim 20

The method according to claim 13 wherein said carbon compound is a hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide.

Claim 21

The method according to claim 17 wherein said hydrocarbon is methane.

Claim 22

The apparatus according to claim 13 wherein said desired pressure is about 100 Torr.

Claim 23

The method according to claim 13 wherein said set temperature of said substrate is about 800° C.

Claim 24

The method according to claim 13 wherein said substrate is continuously rotated at a radial speed sufficient to produce a boundary layer having a uniform thickness.

Claim 25

Apparatus for producing diamond articles by chemical vapor deposition, comprising: a closed reaction chamber formed by chamber walls and having at least one throat and at least one exhaust means, said chamber having means to maintain said chamber at a desired pressure; at least one jet producing plasma torch connected to said throat of said chamber; a chemical vapor deposition zone formed by zone walls separate from said chamber walls, and based on the shape of said diamond article, said zone walls being confined within said chamber walls, and at least one of said walls of said zone being a substrate capable of rotation; said torch having its jet discharge end aligned to trap a jet produced by said torch with in said zone, and said zone being enclosed on all sides except the side facing said torch; drive means to rotate said substrate; cooling means to cool said substrate to a set temperature; a gas feeding system for feeding gas into said plasma torch; and nozzle means for introducing carbon compound into said zone near said throat of said chamber or through said gas feeding system of said torch.

Claim 26

Apparatus for producing diamond articles by chemical vapor deposition, comprising: a closed reaction chamber formed by chamber walls and having at least one throat and at least one exhaust means, said chamber having means to maintain said chamber at a desired pressure; at least one jet producing plasma torch connected to said throat of said chamber; a chemical vapor deposition zone formed by zone walls separate from said chamber walls, and based on the shape of said diamond article, said zone walls being confined within said chamber walls, and at least one of said walls of said zone being a substrate capable of rotation; said torch having its jet discharge end aligned to trap a jet produced by said torch with in said zone, and said zone being enclosed on all sides except the side facing said torch; drive means to rotate said substrate; cooling means to cool said substrate to a set temperature; a gas feeding system for feeding gas into said plasma torch; and nozzle means for introducing carbon compound into said zone near said throat of said chamber or through said gas feeding system of said torch.