A consideration of ternary C–H–O diagram for diamond deposition using microwave in-liquid and gas phase plasma

The purpose of this study is to clarify the mechanism of diamond synthesis using an in-liquid plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. We investigated the chemical reactions from a liquid mixture of methanol and ethanol (in-liquid plasma CVD) and a gas mixture of methane and hydrogen (gas-phase CVD). Carbon monoxide (CO) is firstly synthesized and then a chemical reaction using the remaining carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) is induced to synthesize a carbon substance. Residual H radicals act as an etchant removing the incompletely binding carbon atom that hinders diamond crystal growth. From spectroscopic measurements, CO peaks were clearly observed when the oxygen component is contained in the raw materials. From the experimental results of carbon deposits using various liquid and gas mixtures as the raw materials, we found that the region of the remaining H and C after CO synthesis satisfying H/C > 20 is necessary to synthesize diamonds using in-liquid plasma CVD method. The region of H/C > 20 in the Bachmann C–H–O diagram nearly agrees with the experimental results of synthesizing diamonds.

► Chemical reactions of diamond deposition using in-liquid plasma CVD.
► Carbon monoxide (CO) is firstly synthesized species.
► The remaining carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) is induced to synthesize a carbon substance.
► The region of the remaining H/C >20 is necessary to synthesize diamonds.