Diamond Engineering for Electronic Devices

Often seen as part of the next generation of semiconductor materials, diamond has yet to live up to expectations. The wide band-gap[1], high hardness, radiation tolerance, extreme thermal conductivity are but a handful of its often vaunted attributes [2][3][4]. While Boron doping gives us access to an acceptable p-type material [5] the hunt is still on for a willing donor, able to fulfil

the diamond lattice's stringent requirements. One way to sidestep the difficulties encountered with substitutional doping is through surface doping. The effects produced by the varied surface terminations of diamond have the potential to pave the way to many functional devices. With Negative Electron Affinities (NEA) ranging down to -2.7 eV [6] and Positive Electron Affinities

(PEA) reaching +3.21eV [7] there is a wealth of opportunity for surface engineering.