Optoelectronic surface-related properties in boron-doped and irradiated diamond thin films

Abstract

Elucidation of microscopic properties of synthetic diamond films, such as formation and evolution of bulk and surface defects, chemistry of dopants, is necessary for a reliable quality control and reproducibility in applications. Surface photovoltage (SPV) spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy were employed to study diamond thin films grown on silicon by microwave plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition and hot-filament chemical vapor deposition with different levels of boron doping in conjunction with gamma irradiation. SPV experiments showed that while the increase of boron concentration leads to a semiconductor-metal transition, subsequent gamma irradiation reverts quasi-metallic samples back to a semiconducting state by compensating electrical activity of boron possibly via hydrogen. One of the most pronounced common transitions observed at ∼3.1-3.2 eV in the SPV spectra was also present in all of the PL spectra. It is likely that this is a signature of the sp2-hybridized carbon clusters in or in the vicinity of grain boundaries. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.