Evaluation of freestanding boron-doped diamond grown by chemical vapour deposition as substrates for vertical power electronic devices

In this study, 4 x 4 mm2 freestanding boron-doped diamond single crystals with thickness up to 260 μm have been fabricated by plasma assisted chemical vapour deposition. The boron concentrations measured by secondary ion mass spectroscopy were 1018 to 1020 cm-3 which is in a good agreement with the values calculated from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis, thus indicating that almost all incorporated boron is electrically active. The dependence of lattice parameters and crystal mosaicity on boron concentrations have also been extracted from high resolution x-ray diffraction experiments on (004) planes. The widths of x-ray rocking curves have globally shown the high quality of the material despite a substantial broadening of the peak, indicating a decrease of structural quality with increasing boron doping levels. Finally, the suitability of these crystals for the development of vertical power electronic devices has been confirmed by four-point probe measurements from which electrical resistivities as low as 0.26 Ω cm have been obtained.