Effects of vicinal angles from (0 0 1) surface on the Boron-doping features of high-quality homoepitaxial diamond films grown by the high-power microwave plasma chemical-vapor-deposition method

Vicinal surface effects on homoepitaxial growth and boron-doping processes have been studied in case of single-crystalline diamond (0 0 1) surfaces grown using the high-power microwave plasma chemical-vapor-deposition (MWPCVD) method. The off-angles inclined from the on-orientation (0 0 1) surfaces ranged to 5° along the [1 1 0] or [1 0 0] direction, while the concentration of doping B(CH3)3 gas was kept constant with a B/C ratio of 50 ppm. Although a number of square-like growth hillocks often appeared, depending substantially on the crystalline quality of the high-pressure/high-temperature-synthesized (HPHT) Ib diamond substrates employed, the number and shape of the hillocks changed significantly with the increasing off-angle. For the vicinal surfaces with off-angles of ≈3° inclined along the [1 1 0] direction, macroscopically flat surfaces were obtained, compared with the other off-angle cases examined. Furthermore, the growth rate and acceptor density of substitutional boron atoms in the homoepitaxial layers were found to substantially increase with the increasing off-angle. These indicate that the step density can play important roles not only in the homoepitaxial growth but also in the boron-incorporation process during the high-power MWPCVD growth.