Enhanced diffusion of C in Fe under CVD diamond deposition conditions

Abstract

It has been reported, by other authors [1-3], that under DC plasma conditions the diffusion of C into Fe is much greater than that obtained under thermal equilibrium conditions. They postulated that the exceptionally high C uptake is due to rapid infusion (mass transfer) of C into the surface from the plasma, and not to an anomalously high diffusion rate in the bulk. The aim of the current investigation was to determine whether the rapid infusion of C and classical C diffusion rates obtained from high CH4 concentration plasmas are also observed in the lower C content (1% CH4) plasma employed in CVD diamond deposition. A series of experiments were conducted for short deposition times (up to 5..