L. Bergman et al., THE ORIGIN OF THE BROAD-BAND LUMINESCENCE AND THE EFFECT OF NITROGEN DOPING ON THE OPTICAL-PROPERTIES OF DIAMOND FILMS, Journal of applied physics, 76(5), 1994, pp. 3020-3027
Raman and various photoluminescence (PL) techniques were employed to i
nvestigate the role of nitrogen doping on the optical spectra of chemi
cal-vapor-deposited (CVD) diamond films and to determine the origin of
the characteristic broadband luminescence which is observed from appr
oximately 1.5 to 2.5 eV and centered at approximately 2 eV. The PL tra
nsitions attributed to the zero-phonon lines (ZPL) of nitrogen centers
are observed at 1.945 and 2.154 eV. A new possible nitrogen center at
1.967 eV is also observed as well as the band A luminescence centered
at approximately 2.46 eV. The experimental results preclude the possi
bility of the broadband PL being due to electron-lattice interaction o
f the nitrogen ZPL centers. We establish the presence of an in-gap sta
te distribution in CVD diamond films attributed to the sp2 disordered
phase and show that its optical transitions are the likely cause of th
e broadband luminescence. A model of the in-gap state distribution is
presented which is similar to models previously developed for amorphou
s materials.