Hydrogen-vacancy related defect (H1’) in chemical vapor deposition homo-epitaxial diamond films was investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance and cathodoluminescence. It was found that the concentration of H1’ significantly decreased as the dilution (CH4/H2) ratio decreased. It was also confirmed that the intensity of free-exciton emission (Iex) increased as the CH4/H2 ratio decreased. The complementary relationship between Iex and H1’ could be explained by considering that H1’ acts as a non-radiative recombination center which reduces the lifetime of free exciton and Iex. The suppression mechanism of H1’ was explained by considering the balance between the growth rate and the annihilation rate of H1’ in the sub-surface region.

Hydrogen-Vacancy Related Defect in Chemical Vapor Deposition Homoepitaxial Diamond Films Studied by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance and Cathodoluminescence. N.Mizuochi, H.Watanabe, H.Okushi, S.Yamasaki, J.Niitsuma, T.Sekiguchi: Applied Physics Letters , 2006, 88[9], 091912 (3pp)