Threshold energy for atomic displacement in diamond

Abstract

Man-made boron-doped diamonds have been iradiated with energetic electrons. The effect of the energy of the irradiations, performed around 15\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K, upon the conductivity measured at 12\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K has been studied. The comparison between the variations, with the energy of irradiation, of the defect introduction rate (deduced from conductivity measurements) and of the cross section for atomic displacement provides a threshold energy of 35 \ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{} 5 eV in good agreement with the theoretical estimates.