Abstract. An advanced slot antenna was developed and the enlargement of surface wave plasma was experimentally investigated using the array configuration of slot antennas for large-area nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) film depositions. An original-geometry slot antenna with an annular shape, designed in this work, permitted broad microwave radiations and vast extent of plasma propagations. Uniform plasmas were produced over a deposition area of 600 × 360 mm² with densities of ~10¹⁷ m⁻³ using hydrogen gas by an array configuration of five slot antennas and four rows of the array. A uniform (thickness variation: 10%) and smooth (Ra: 11 nm) NCD film deposition on a 300 × 300 mm² borosilicate glass plate was achieved using the plasma and a mixed gas of H₂/CH₄/CO₂.

Print publication: Issue 1 (February 2010)
Received 23 April 2009, in final form 17 September 2009
Published 20 October 2009