Resonant vibrational excitation of ethylene molecules in laser-assisted diamond deposition

• Published in: Laser physics letters Vol. 11; no. 7; pp. 76002 - 76010
• Main Authors: Fan, L S, Zhou, Y S, Wang, M X, Gao, Y, Liu, L, Silvain, J F, Lu, Y F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IOP Publishing 01.07.2014
• Subjects: Chemical Sciences; combustion chemical vapor deposition; diamond; laser-selective vibrational excitaion; Material chemistry; Laser-assisted deposition; Diamond; Ethylene
• ISSN: 1612-2011; 1612-202X
• DOI: 10.1088/1612-2011/11/7/076002

The influence of resonant vibrational excitation of ethylene molecules in combustion chemical vapor deposition of diamond was investigated. Resonant vibrational excitation of the CH2-wagging mode (a type c fundamental band, 7, at 949.3 cm−1) in ethylene molecules was achieved by using a wavelength-tunable CO2 laser with a matching wavelength at 10.532 µm. By comparing to laser irradiation at off-resonance wavelengths, an on-resonance vibrational excitation is more efficient in energy coupling, increasing flame temperatures, accelerating the combustion reactions, and promoting diamond deposition. An enhanced rate of 5.7 was achieved in terms of the diamond growth rate with an improved diamond quality index at a high flame temperature under a resonant excitation of the CH2-wagging mode. This study demonstrates that a resonant vibrational excitation is an effective route for coupling energy into the gas phase reactions and promoting the diamond synthesis process.