Claims
- 1. A method of growing films by flame synthesis, comprising the steps of:
- a) positioning a flame stabilizer on a top surface of a substrate in a stagnation flow reactor, wherein the flame stabilizer comprises;
- i) an annular ring having a top surface, wherein said annular ring is positioned coaxially and coplanar with the substrate, and
- ii) spaced apart, vertical pillars mounted on the top surface of said annular ring, wherein said vertical pillars are spaced equidistant from one another thereby dividing a flame into equal segments;
- b) injecting a gas through a nozzle in the stagnation flow reactor, wherein the nozzle is spaced apart from and parallel to the substrate and wherein the gas is suitable for forming a film;
- c) igniting the gas to form a flame;
- d) impinging the flame onto the substrate surface; and
- d) decreasing the separation distance between the nozzle and the top surface of the substrate to form a strained flame.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the film is a diamond film.
- 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the gas is a mixture of acetylene, oxygen, hydrogen and a gas selected from the group consisting of nitrogen and argon.
- 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the ratio of acetylene:oxygen is less than about 1.1, the ratio of hydrogen:oxygen is between about 0.6 and 1.0, and the concentration of nitrogen or argon is between about 0 and 25% by volume.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of the equal segments is at least 6.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of the equal segments is 12.
- 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the separation distance is less than about 2.5 mm.
- 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the film growth rate is greater than about 25 .mu.m/hr.
STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST
This invention was made with Government support under contract no. DE-AC04-94AL85000 awarded by the U. S. Department of Energy to Sandia Corporation. The Government has certain rights in the invention.
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
Entry |
Hahn et al, Appl. Phys. lett. 68(15), Apr. 1996, pp. 2158-2160. |
McCarty et al, Appl. Phys. lett. 63(1), Sep. 1993, pp. 1498-1500. |