N-type doping of diamond surface by potassium

Abstract

For diamond with exceptional physical and chemical properties, it is a challenging task to develop an effective n-type dopant with satisfactory electronic properties. In this work, using the first-principles calculation, we report the n-type doping of diamond surface (areal electron density of 2.508 × 1013–4.090 × 1013 cm−2 and carrier mobility of 189–1186 cm2 V−1 s−1 at 298 K) by surface transfer doping using potassium (K). Electrons are transferred from the K atoms to the diamond surface, then electrons accumulation appears on the diamond surface. In addition, the areal electron density and electron affinity values increase with increasing K concentration. This work provides a new strategy for producing n-type diamond-based devices.