Detection of N and B in doped diamond films by ERDA method and related electrochemical characteristics

Boron and nitrogen incorporation in diamond films grown by hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) was investigated by elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA). Boron concentration of only B-doped films ranges from 0.3% to 1.7%, which is related to the increase of B concentration into the gas phase from 0.2% to 1.5%. Two different sets of diamond films co-doped with B and N were investigated. The B incorporation into the films varied from 0.17% to 0.29% while the B concentration in the gas phase is increased from 0.2% to 2.0% and the N concentration in the films remains fixed. If the N2 concentration of gas phase increases from 0.7% to 4.8% at a fixed B concentration, the B/C ratio of the films remains virtually unchanged (0.1 to 0.17%). Our results obtained from Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Raman Spectroscopy and 4 points resistivity measurements demonstrated that nitrogen incorporation modifies the characteristics of B-doped diamond films. In this article we also discuss the effect of film doping on the diamond electrode working potential window, which has been extended from 3.0 V to 3.5–4.0 V.