APPLICATION OF ION-ASSISTED ELECTRON-BEAM METALLIZATION TO DIAMOND ELECTRONICS

The application of the ion-assisted electron beam deposition technique for the fabrication of contacts on diamond has been evaluated by stud ying the adhesion of metal films as well as by performing electrical m easurements on metal/diamond structures. Metal films were deposited on naturally occurring B-doped diamond crystals (type IIb) and on polycr ystalline diamond films using an electron beam deposition technique wi th and without ion assist. A marked improvement in adhesion was observ ed for the films deposited with ion-assisted deposition compared to th ose deposited by non-ion-assisted electron beam technique. The metal c ontacts fabricated on a natural diamond (type IIb) exhibited excellent rectifying characteristics with low reverse leakage current densities . No apparent difference in the reverse leakage current densities coul d be detected for the contacts deposited by ion-assisted electron beam deposition as compared to the contacts deposited by non-ion-assisted electron beam.