Industrial Consultancy & Sponsored Research (IC&SR) , IIT Madras
n-Type Phosphorus Doped Ultra-Nanocrystalline Diamond Thin Films With Enhanced Conductivity and Metallicity and Method of Producing the same
Categories for this Invention
Technology: n-Type Phosphorus Doped Ultra-Nanocrystalline Diamond Thin Films;
Industry: Wide bandgap Semiconductor, High-Power Electronics, High-Frequency Devices, Optoelectronics and Photonics, Energy Sector, Aerospace & Defense, & etc.
Application: Diamond Detector, Optical Systems, Power Electronics,& others.
Market: The global diamond semiconductor market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 12.3% during the forecast period (2024-30).
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Problem Statement
- The problem statement discussed in the present invention is how to implement the n-type Phosphorus Doped Ultra-Nanocrystalline Diamond Thin Films with increased conductivity which has potential applications in diamond-based electronic devices.
- Hence, present invention provides the solution in efficient manner.
Technology
- Present patent describes a method of synthesizing a n-type phosphorus doped ultra-nanocrystalline diamond (UNCD) thin film via chemical vapor deposition and doping phosphorus into diamond lattice by a technique called ion implantation that exhibits enhanced conductivity.
- The present invention further elaborates that by varying the phosphorus ion’s fluence/dose at a given incident energy, UNCDs of different transport properties can be achieved.
- The n-type diamond thin films are grown by hot filament chemical vapor deposition and implanted by phosphorus ions.
- With necessary optimized annealing conditions post implantation, it is established that optimal concentration of phosphorus dopants can balance increased conductivity without significantly compromising the structural integrity of the diamond film.
Key Features / Value Proposition
Technical & Industrial Perspective:
Manufacturing Process:
- The ultra-nanocrystalline diamond (UNCD) thin film is initially deposited in methane (CH4) & hydrogen (H2) atmosphere where CH4/H2 is 4.5% in the absence of Ar at a pressure of 7 Torr and substrate temperature of 800°C.
- Post deposition, the films are implanted with phosphorus ions with energy 100 keV & beam current 1 µA. (Refer Fig.2).
- Annealing is performed in vacuum at high temperature to ensure the mobility of vacancies/point defects and to restore the crystallinity.
- Annealing helps in recovering from amorphization & helps in getting rid of implantation induced defects.
- Using a systematic variation of phosphorus doses implanted at 100 keV energy, developed UNCD films prototype with varied transport properties showing insulating behavior at low doses with hopping type conduction process & semi-metallic like conduction at moderate to high doses with an almost five times enhancement in conductivity values w.r.t. undoped diamond.
Utility:
- Multi-functionalities with diverse applications including development of room temperature quantum bits (QUBITs) for quantum computing, biosensing, detectors, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), color centers, diamond based electronic devices & etc.
Questions about this Technology?
Contact For Licensing
sm-marketing@imail.iitm.ac.in
ipoffice2@iitm.ac.in
Research Lab
Prof. Ramachandra Rao M S
Department of Physics
Intellectual Property
IITM IDF Ref. 1887;
IN Patent No. 383546 (Granted)
Technology Readiness Level
TRL-4
Proof of Concept ready, tested and validated in Laboratory