It was noted that defects which limited the movement of charge carriers in polycrystalline chemical vapor deposited films were located within the grains or in grain boundaries. Their geometrical distribution in the sample was different, and usually unknown. A method was presented here for quantitatively evaluating the concentrations and distributions of grain- and boundary-located active carrier traps. As the effects of these 2 kinds of defect upon the performance of chemical vapor deposited diamond were different, it was possible to obtain the defect distribution by measuring the response of diamond α-particle detectors as a function of film thickness. The Hecht theory, which described the efficiency of a semiconductor particle detector, was modified so as to take account of the polycrystalline nature of chemical vapor deposited diamond. This extended Hecht model was then used to fit experimental data and to extract quantitative information concerning the defect distribution.

Distribution of Electrically Active Defects in Chemical Vapor Deposition Diamond - Model and Measurement. A.Balducci, M.Marinelli, E.Milani, M.E.Morgada, G.Pucella, G.Rodriguez, A.Tucciarone, G.Verona-Rinati, M.Angelone, M.Pillon: Applied Physics Letters, 2005, 86[2], 022108 (3pp)