Polycrystalline diamond films with tailored micro/nanostructure/doping for new large area film-based diamond electronics

This paper describes processes developed to change two key electrical properties (electrical resistivity and carrier type) of ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) to microcrystalline diamond (MCD) films. The results show that the electrical properties of the investigated polycrystalline diamond films depend on the grain size and plasma treated grain boundary networks interfaces and external films’ surfaces, in which hydrogen, fluorine or nitrogen can be incorporated to tailor electrical carriers-type to tune the electrical properties. Exploring the feasibility of modulating the resistivity of polycrystalline diamond films via tailoring of grain size, surface chemistry and nitrogen or fluorine incorporation into films’ grain boundaries and external surfaces may enable applications of these diamond films as active or heat dissipation layers on micro/nano-electronic devices. This work can open the pathway to enabling an industrial process for new diamond-based electronics, since polycrystalline diamond films can be grown with extreme uniformity on 300 mm diameter Si wafers, used in manufacturing of current Si-based micro/nano-electronic devices.