Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2011
Diamond-based semiconductor devices offer the promise of operation at hightemperatures and under extreme radiation conditions. An essential step inthe drive towards operational diamond-based electronic devices is theability to controllably and reproducibly dope the diamond. Ion implantationis the method of choice for such doping because it offers precise control ofthe dopant concentration and spatially selective doping is achievable usingstandard masking techniques. However, compared to silicon, the doping ofdiamond is complicated by the tendency of the diamond to relax to graphiteupon thermal annealing. Furthermore, even if graphitization can be avoided,the compensation of dopants by residual defects has proved in the past to bea limiting factor in obtaining very high mobility material. In this paper,we present a scheme for the effective doping of diamond using MeVion-implantation. For MeV ion- implantation the doped layer is deeply buriedunder a cap of undamaged diamond, and so the scheme includes a method usingpulsed laser irradiation for making electrical contact to the buried layer.We show that a boron doped layer fabricated by the MeV implantation schemehas, after suitable annealing and removal of these compensating/trappingdefects, very high mobility and low compensation ratio. In fact, itselectrical properties are quite similar to those of natural boron-doped typeIIb diamond.