Paramagnetic nitrogen in chemical vapor deposition diamond thin films

Abstract

Electron-paramagnetic-resonance (EPR) studies demonstrate the presence of nitrogen point defects in microwave-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond thin films. Polycrystalline powder pattern EPR spectra are interpreted with g=2.0023, A∥=114.0 MHz, and A⊥=81.3 MHz. These spin parameters are identical to those of nitrogen in single crystal natural diamonds. Quantitative EPR and secondary ion-mass spectrometry (SIMS) results of CVD diamond thin films suggest that nitrogen point defect formation is favored over aggregate nitrogen formation.