Electrical Properties of Natural Iia Diamonds Using Photo- and Particle Excitation

Abstract

ABSTRACTTwo complementary techniques are used to study the electrical transport properties related to the use of diamonds as materials for ionizing radiation detectors. Transient photoconductivity using soft x-rays is used to probe the first few microns of the material, while ionizing particle-excited conductivity is used to probe the entire bulk of the material (1 millimeter). Both techniques measure the mean drift distance of free carriers, or the collection distance d. In addition, transient photoconductivity is able to extract the lifetimes and mobilities of the excited carriers. The collection distance measured by the two methods are in agreement, suggesting the material is homogeneous. At an applied field of 10 kV/cm, d is 25 to 30 microns, and, up to a field of 25 kV/cm, d has not saturated. The lifetime varies between 100 and 600 ps, and the mobility varies between 1000 and 4000 cm2/V-s, the range due to natural variations from sample to sample. The primary defects limiting the lifetime are believed to be nitrogen impurities and dislocations.