Deposition of Boron-Doped Thin CVD Diamond Films from Methane-Triethyl Borate-Hydrogen Gas Mixture

Abstract

Boron-doped diamond is a promising semiconductor material that can be used as a sensor and in power electronics. Currently, researchers have obtained thin boron-doped diamond layers due to low film growth rates (2–10 μm/h), with polycrystalline diamond growth on the front and edge planes of thicker crystals, inhomogeneous properties in the growing crystal’s volume, and the presence of different structural defects. One way to reduce structural imperfection is the specification of optimal synthesis conditions, as well as surface etching, to remove diamond polycrystals. Etching can be carried out using various gas compositions, but this operation is conducted with the interruption of the diamond deposition process; therefore, inhomogeneity in the diamond structure appears. The solution to this problem is etching in the process of diamond deposition. To realize this in the present work, we used triethyl borate as a boron-containing substance in the process of boron-doped diamond chemical vapor deposition. Due to the oxygen atoms in the triethyl borate molecule, it became possible to carry out an experiment on simultaneous boron-doped diamond deposition and growing surface etching without the requirement of process interruption for other operations. As a result of the experiments, we obtain highly boron-doped monocrystalline diamond layers with a thickness of about 8 μm and a boron content of 2.9%. Defects in the form of diamond polycrystals were not detected on the surface and around the periphery of the plate.