Diamond and Related Materials, 3 (1993) 94-97
Topology of synthetic, boron-doped diamond by scanning tunneling microscopy
Shenda M. Bakera, George R. Rossmanb and John D. Baldeschwielera
aDivision of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering,
bDivision of Geological and Planetary Sciences, Arthur Amos Noyes Laboratory
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 9112S (USA)
Abstract
Scanning
tunneling microscopy (STM) studies were performed on a large,
boron-doped, synthetic diamond crystal in order to examine its surface
morphology and growth characteristics. This single crystal synthetic
diamond should better mimic naturally grown diamonds than thin diamond
films which may be affected by the substrate or the deposition
technique used. The synthetic diamond is shown to exhibit microscopic
features similar to the macroscopic features observed on natural
diamonds indicating similar growth and/or defect properties. The
ability to obtain adequate current for this STM study is a result of
the high boron content in the synthetic diamond, which is much higher
than that of natural diamonds.