Structural and electrical characteristics of nitrogen-doped nanocrystalline diamond films prepared by CVD

Nitrogen-doped nanocrystalline diamond (N-NCD) films were grown using microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition method. Films were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Perfectly ohmic contacts for the N-doped NCD film and p-type Si substrate were obtained using silver (Ag). Silver deposited at a temperature of 250 degrees C with the pulsed laser deposition method was found to show ohmic behaviour with a high degree of reproducibility. Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics are presented for various Ag/N-NCD and Ag-Si. Rectifying I-V behaviour for the interface N-NCD/p-Si suggests that the majority carriers for N-NCD are electrons.