Electrical Conductivity of Nitrogen Doped SiC Nanocrystals in Diamond

Nanocrystals of silicon carbide were synthesized inside natural diamond using high dose silicon implantation. In order to retain the diamond structure implantation was done at 900 °C. The samples were subsequently annealed in an rf-heated furnace at 1500 °C for 10 min. A more detailed study on the formation of epitaxially aligned 3C-SiC nanocrystallites within the implanted diamond was published recently[i]. However, investigation of electrical properties was restricted to four-point measurements. Here we will present Hall measurements as function of temperature of the high-fluence Si-implanted diamonds. The results indicate a highly conductive, buried layer inside the diamond. The exceptional high electron concentration may originate in implantation-induced electrical active defects as well as n-type doping by unintentionally co-implanted 28(N2).

[i] H. Weishart, V. Heera, F. Eichhorn, B. Pécz, Á. Barna and
W. Skorupa, J. Appl. Phys. 94 (2003) 1195.