engleski

Mapping the Local Spatial Charge in Defective Diamond by Means of N-V Sensors—A Self-Diagnostic Concept

Electrically active defects have a significant impact on the performance of electronic devices based on wide-band-gap materials. This issue is ubiquitous in diamond science and technology, since the presence of charge traps in the active regions of different classes of diamond-based devices (detectors, power diodes, transistors) can significantly affect their performance, due to the formation of space charge, memory effects, and the degradation of the electronic response associated with radiation-induced damage. Among the most common defects in diamond, the nitrogen- vacancy (N-V) center possesses unique spin properties that enable high-sensitivity field sensing at the nanoscale. Here, we demonstrate that N-V ensembles can be successfully exploited to perform direct local mapping of the internal electric-field distribution of a graphite- diamond-graphite junction exhibiting electrical properties dominated by trap- and space-charge- related conduction mechanisms. By means of optically detected magnetic resonance measurements, we performed both point-by- point readout and spatial mapping of the electric field in the active region at different bias voltages. In this novel “self- diagnostic” approach, defect complexes represent not only the source of detrimental space-charge effects but also a unique tool for their direct investigation, by provid- ing an insight on the conduction mechanisms that could not be inferred in previous studies on the basis of conventional electrical and optical characterization techniques.

diamond ; nitrogen - vacancy ; detectors

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