High growth-rate deposition of similar to 2 mum/h has been achieved for high-quality diamond (1 0 0) film growth by means of high-power microwave-plasma chemical-vapor deposition (MPCVD). The growth rate is at least 40 times higher than the values reported from conventional low-power MPCVD in the case of high-quality diamond film growth. Cathodoluminescence spectra from the grown diamond films reveal strong band-edge emissions even at room temperature, indicating high crystalline quality of the diamond films. With increasing growth temperature, the film surface became flat and the intensity of the band-edge emission strong. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.