Structural properties of highly conductive ultra-nanocrystalline diamond films grown by hot-filament CVD

In this work we show the correlation of the electrical conductivity of ultra-nanocrystalline (UNCD) diamond films grown by hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) with their structural properties. The substrate temperature, the methane to hydrogen ratio and the pressure are the main factor influencing the growth of conductive UNCD films, which extends from electrical resistive diamond films (<10-4 S/cm) to highly conductive diamond films with a specific conductivity of 300 S/cm. High-resolution-transmission-electron-microscopy (HRTEM) and electron-energy-loss-spectroscopy (EELS) have been done on the highly conductive diamond films, to show the origin of the high electrical conductivity. The HRTEM results show random oriented diamond grains and a large amount of nano-graphite between the diamond crystals. EELS investigations are confirming these results. Raman measurements are correlated with the specific conductivity, which shows structural changes of sp2 carbons bonds as function of conductivity. Hall experiments complete the results, which lead to a model of an electron mobility based conductivity, which is influenced by the structural properties of the grain boundary regions in the ultra-nanocrystalline diamond films.