Transparent coatings find numerous applications in modern devices. For example, transparent coatings can be used for coating windshields, air craft windows, cell phone screens, tablet screens, computer screens, weapon heads, field deployed sensors, lasers, light emitting diodes (LEDs), etc. These coatings need to be transparent, scratch resistant, have high hardness, corrosion resistance, and generally provide protection from the environment.

There is also an increasing demand for transparent semi-conductor devices. For example, traditional solar cells are fabricated on silicon which is opaque. Only one surface of such solar cells is available for receiving light and generating electricity therefrom. There is also a demand for other semi-conductor devices such as p-n junction devices, LEDs, other diodes, transistors, etc. Moreover, high power high temperature semi-conductor devices produce a substantial amount of heat which needs to be dissipated for proper operation of the semi-conductor devices. 

The patents’ details generally discuss methods for fabricating transparent films and devices; and in particular methods for fabricating transparent nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) coatings, and transparent NCD devices.

Benefits

• Optically transparent, scratch resistant ultrathin film of diamond on glass for protective applications

Description

A method for coating a substrate comprises producing a plasma ball using a microwave plasma source in the presence of a mixture of gases. The plasma ball has a diameter. The plasma ball is disposed at a first distance from the substrate and the substrate is maintained at a first temperature. The plasma ball is maintained at the first distance from the substrate, and a diamond coating is deposited on the substrate. The diamond coating has a thickness. Furthermore, the diamond coating has an optical transparency of greater than about 80%. The diamond coating can include nanocrystalline diamond. The microwave plasma source can have a frequency of about 915 MHz.