Minimization of the defects concentration from boron incorporation in polycrystalline diamond films

Electron spin resonance, Raman diffusion and X-ray diffraction spectra of boron-doped diamond thin films were recorded. Both the signals related to particular defects (ESR, luminescence) or those related to the total concentration of defects (linewidth of the diamond Raman line, width of the X-ray diffraction peak) indicate a decrease in the defect concentration as the boron content increases up to 10(19)-10(20) cm(-3). This behaviour is in reasonable agreement with the decrease in the concentration of structural defects as the doping level increases predicted by Bernhole et al, for wide band gap semiconductors. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.