The effect of surface treatment on the electrical properties of metal contacts to boron-doped homoepitaxial diamond film

Abstract

Both doped and undoped homoepitaxial diamond films were fabricated using microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The conductivity of the diamond film is strongly affected by the surface treatment. In particular, exposure of film surface to a hydrogen plasma results in the formation of a conductive layer which can be used to obtain linear (ohmic) I-V characteristics of the Au/diamond contacts, regardless of the doping level. It is shown how the proper chemical cleaning of the boron-doped homoepitaxial diamond surface allows the fabrication of Au-gate Schottky diodes with excellent rectifying characteristics at temperatures of at least 400 degrees C.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>