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The effect of substitution and oxidation-reduction on the thermal conductivity of perovskite-like layered structure (PLS) ceramics was investigated in relation to mass contrast and non-stoichiometry. Sr (acceptor) was substituted on the A site, while Ta (donor) was substituted on the B site of La2Ti2O7. Substitution in PLS materials creates atomic scale disorders to accommodate the non-stoichiometry. High resolution transmission electron microscopy and X ray diffraction revealed that acceptor substitution in La2Ti2O7 produced nanoscale intergrowths of n=5 layered phase, while donor substitution produced nanoscale intergrowths of n=3 layered phase. As a result of these nanoscale intergrowths, the thermal conductivity value reduced by as much as ∼20%. Pure La2Ti2O7 has a thermal conductivity value of ∼1.3W/m K which dropped to a value of ∼1.12W/m K for Sr doped La2Ti2O7 and ∼0.93 W/m K for Ta doped La2Ti2O7 at 573K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of diamond as a semiconductor for the realization of transistor structures, which can operate at high temperatures (>700 K), is of increasing interest. In terms of bipolar devices, the growth of n-type phosphorus doped diamond is more efficient on the (111) growth plane; p-type boron-doped diamond growth has been most usually grown in the (100) direction and, hence, this study into the electronic properties, at high temperatures, of boron-doped diamond (111) homoepitaxial layers. It is shown that highly doped layers (hole carrier concentrations as high as 2×1020 cm-3) can be produced without promoting the onset of (unwanted) hopping conduction. The persistence of valance-band conduction in these films enables relatively high mobility values to be measured (∼20 cm2/V s) and, intriguingly, these values are not significantly reduced at high temperatures. The layers also display very low compensation levels, a fact that may explain the high mobility values since compensation is required for hopping conduction. The results are discussed in terms of the potential of these types of layers for use with high temperature compatible diamond transistors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important development in the field of diamond electronics has been the production of n-type electrical characteristics following homoepitaxial diamond growth on (111) diamond in the presence of phosphorus-containing gases. Several studies have reported that a phosphorus donor level forms with an activation energy in the range of 0.43–0.6 eV; the ground state for the donor level is considered to be at 0.6 eV. Little is currently known about other electrically active defects that may be produced alongside the donor state when phosphorus is introduced. In this paper we report upon the use of impedance spectroscopy, which can isolate the differing components that contribute to the overall conductivity of the film. In Cole-Cole plots, two semicircular responses are observed for all temperatures above 75 °C; a single semicircle being seen at temperatures below this. The results suggest the presence of two conduction paths with activation energies of 0.53 and 0.197 eV. The former can be attributed to the phosphorus donor level, being lower than 0.6 eV due to reduced mobility within the film at elevated temperatures. The latter is discussed in terms of defects in the P+-doped region under the Ohmic contacts being used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanocrystalline diamond films were synthesized by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition using Ar/H[sub 2]/CH[sub 4] gas mixtures. A Fluke PM6306 RCL meter was used to study the electrical impedance of these diamond films in the frequency range 50 Hz to 1 MHz. The impedance dispersion measurement yields the real and imaginary parts in the form of a Cole-Cole plot in the complex plane. A single semicircular response of the impedance of nanocrystalline diamond films was observed at temperatures below 250 °C, with a second semicircular response appearing at low frequencies at temperatures above this. The semicircular responses were found to fit a double resistor-capacitor parallel circuit model. Physical mechanisms likely to be responsible for these observations are discussed in this paper. © 2003 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impedance spectroscopy measurements were used to investigate the separated contributions of diamond grains and grain boundaries (GBs), giving an insight into p-type to n-type conductivity conversion in O+-implanted ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) films. It is found that both diamond grains and GBs promote the conductivity in O+-implanted UNCD films, in which GBs make at least half contribution. The p-type conductivity in O+-implanted samples is a result of H-terminated diamond grains, while n-type conductive samples are closely correlated with O-terminated O+- implanted diamond grains and GBs in the films. The results also suggest that low resistance of GBs is preferable to obtain high mobility n-type conductive UNCD films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-dielectric constant (high-k) TiOx thin layer was fabricated on hydrogen-terminated diamond (H-diamond) surface by low temperature oxidation of a thin titanium layer in ambient air. The metallic titanium layer was deposited by sputter deposition. The dielectric constant of the resultant TiOx was calculated to be around 12. The capacitance density of the metal-oxide-semiconductor(MOS) based on the TiOx/H-diamond was as high as 0.75 µF/cm² contributed from the high-k value and the very thin thickness of the TiOx layer. The leakage current was lower than 10-13 A at reverse biases and 10-7A at the forward bias of -2 V. The MOS field-effect transistor based on the high-k TiOx/H-diamond was demonstrated. The utilization of the high-k TiOx with a very thin thickness brought forward the features of an ideally low subthreshold swing slope of 65 mV per decade and improved drain current at low gate voltages. The advantages of the utilization high-k dielectric for diamond metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistors are anticipated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impedance spectroscopy (IS) analysis is carried out to investigate the electrical properties of the metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structure fabricated on hydrogen-terminated single crystal diamond. The low-temperature atomic layer deposition Al2O3 is employed as the insulator in the MOS structure. By numerically analysing the impedance of the MOS structure at various biases, the equivalent circuit of the diamond MOS structure is derived, which is composed of two parallel capacitive and resistance pairs, in series connection with both resistance and inductance. The two capacitive components are resulted from the insulator, the hydrogenated-diamond surface, and their interface. The physical parameters such as the insulator capacitance are obtained, circumventing the series resistance and inductance effect. By comparing the IS and capacitancevoltage measurements, the frequency dispersion of the capacitance-voltage characteristic is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of substitution and oxidation-reduction on the thermal conductivity of perovskite-like layered structure (PLS) ceramics was investigated in relation to mass contrast and non-stoichiometry. Sr (acceptor) was substituted on the A site, while Ta (donor) was substituted on the B site of La2Ti2O7. Substitution in PLS materials creates atomic scale disorders to accommodate the non-stoichiometry. High resolution transmission electron microscopy and X ray diffraction revealed that acceptor substitution in La2Ti2O7 produced nanoscale intergrowths of n=5 layered phase, while donor substitution produced nanoscale intergrowths of n=3 layered phase. As a result of these nanoscale intergrowths, the thermal conductivity value reduced by as much as ∼20%. Pure La2Ti2O7 has a thermal conductivity value of ∼1.3W/m K which dropped to a value of ∼1.12W/m K for Sr doped La2Ti2O7 and ∼0.93 W/m K for Ta doped La2Ti2O7 at 573K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]