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Research and publications

Peer-reviewed research involving Carat Systems equipment

The publications below involve or reference Carat Systems microwave plasma CVD equipment, or provide relevant background on CVD diamond process development, substrate temperature control, in-situ metrology, nucleation, coalescence, diamond-on-silicon growth, single-crystal diamond growth, and MPCVD reactor behavior.

For technical programs, these topics are often central to whether CVD diamond can be integrated into a useful device, substrate, coating, thermal layer, optical component, or scale-up process.

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Peer-reviewed research using or referencing Carat Systems equipment

These studies used or referenced Carat Systems microwave plasma CVD equipment and address substrate temperature mapping, in-situ optical metrology, early-stage film growth, process uniformity, single-crystal diamond lateral growth, and MPCVD reactor behavior.

Substrate temperature mapping during MPECVD diamond growth

William G.S. Leigh, Jerome A. Cuenca, Evan L.H. Thomas, Soumen Mandal, Oliver A. Williams.
Mapping the effect of substrate temperature inhomogeneity during microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition nanocrystalline diamond growth.
Carbon 201, 328–337, 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2022.09.036.

This study used a Carat Systems CTS6U clamshell-type microwave CVD reactor with a scanned dual-wavelength pyrometer to map substrate temperature during diamond growth.

The work showed that substrate temperature inhomogeneity affects diamond film thickness, sp3 fraction, Raman intensity, and Raman FWHM. These results are relevant to substrate holder design, thermal contact, wafer temperature uniformity, and process repeatability in CVD diamond growth.

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In-situ monitoring of early-stage diamond growth on silicon

William G.S. Leigh, Evan L.H. Thomas, Jerome A. Cuenca, Soumen Mandal, Oliver A. Williams.
In-situ monitoring of microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition diamond growth on silicon using spectroscopic ellipsometry.
Carbon 202, 204–212, 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2022.10.049.

This study used a Carat Systems CTS6U reactor to monitor early-stage diamond growth on silicon using in-situ spectroscopic ellipsometry.

The work tracked the transition from isolated crystallites to a coalesced film, including void fraction, sp2 content, surface roughness, and the effect of methane concentration. These measurements are relevant to diamond-on-silicon development, interface control, nucleation, coalescence, and metrology-driven process optimization.

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Single-crystal diamond lateral growth and MPCVD reactor behavior

Rakesh Kumar, C. Nikhil, Akash, K. Ramsubramanian, V.S.T. Madana, N. Arunachalam, M.S. Ramachandra Rao.
Investigation on the epitaxial lateral outward growth of single crystal diamond using MPCVD growth technique: Simulation insights under high pressure conditions.
Carbon 256, 121590, 2026. DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2026.121590.

This study references a CARAT Systems MPCVD cavity in work on epitaxial lateral outward growth of single-crystal diamond using microwave plasma CVD under high-pressure conditions.

The paper is relevant to single-crystal diamond growth programs where reactor geometry, plasma behavior, pressure regime, growth-front evolution, lateral growth, and edge-region behavior can influence the expansion of single-crystal diamond area.

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Related technical literature

The broader CVD diamond literature supports the importance of early-stage growth, nucleation, coalescence, interface formation, non-diamond carbon, and metrology-driven process optimization.

Spectroscopic ellipsometry of nanocrystalline diamond film growth

Evan L.H. Thomas, Soumen Mandal, Ashek-I-Ahmed, John Emyr Macdonald, Thomas G. Dane, Jonathan Rawle, Chia-Liang Cheng, Oliver A. Williams.
Spectroscopic Ellipsometry of Nanocrystalline Diamond Film Growth.
ACS Omega 2, 6715–6727, 2017. DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.7b00866.

This study used spectroscopic ellipsometry, Raman spectroscopy, AFM, SEM, and XRD to characterize the early stages of nanocrystalline diamond growth on nanodiamond-seeded silicon.

The paper describes the transition from nucleation to bulk growth, interfacial carbide formation, non-diamond carbon during coalescence, and roughness evolution. These issues are relevant to diamond-on-silicon growth, nucleation-route selection, interface quality, and early-stage film control.

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Technical themes addressed by these publications

For customers evaluating CVD diamond, the practical issue is not only whether diamond can be deposited. The process path often depends on temperature control, nucleation, interface formation, film composition, uniformity, metrology, reactor geometry, plasma behavior, and growth-front evolution.

Temperature and thermal contact

Substrate temperature distribution, holder design, vacuum chucking, and thermal contact can influence growth rate, film quality, stress, and uniformity.

Nucleation and interface formation

Early-stage growth controls coalescence, interfacial carbide formation, non-diamond carbon, void content, and the quality of diamond-on-silicon interfaces.

In-situ metrology

Reflectometry, pyrometry, Raman review, and spectroscopic ellipsometry support the transition from empirical growth to metrology-driven process development.

Single-crystal growth behavior

Single-crystal diamond scale-up can depend on reactor geometry, pressure regime, plasma distribution, lateral growth behavior, edge effects, and suppression of unwanted polycrystalline growth.

Using these references in a technical discussion

These publications are useful references for programs involving diamond-on-silicon, substrate temperature control, early-stage nucleation, in-situ optical metrology, Raman characterization, film uniformity, single-crystal diamond lateral growth, MPCVD reactor behavior, and process scale-up.

For a process-development discussion, useful starting information includes the substrate material, substrate size, target diamond thickness, required uniformity, temperature limits, contamination constraints, relevant metrology, and whether the goal is sample coating, process development, or an equipment path.

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