Thermodynamic coupling effect and catalyst effect for the artificial diamond growth

Abstract

The activated chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond process became one of the worldwide interesting projects in the 1980s. The basic question is why diamond can grow under activated low pressure conditions. The driving force of the transformation from graphite to diamond under low pressure is coming from a coupled reaction of the association of superequilibrium atomic hydrogen. The thermodynamic coupling effect in the activated CVD process is different from the catalyst effect in the high pressure, catalyst-assisted process for the artificial diamond growth.