Carrier lifetime, diffusion length and mobility in (100) CVD diamond samples pre-treated in an O 2 /H 2 -plasma

In this article, (100) Ib diamond substrates are pre-treated for different durations in an O 2 /H 2 -plasma, influencing the etching of defects like unepitaxial crystals, flat top hillocks, and pyramidal hillocks [1-3]. Such procedure is used to prevent those to incorporate into the ~ 100μm thick CVD diamond film, which is subsequently grown on top. While the surface morphology and structure of substrates and films are studied by SEM, the time-resolved Light-Induced Transient Grating (LITG) technique provides information on the excess carrier parameters close to the front surface of the grown layers. This technique is particularly useful as it does not requires a separation of the CVD film from its substrate. It will be shown that O 2 /H 2 -plasma treatments of more than 150 minutes but less than 240 minutes largely reduce the incorporation of defects in the bulk of the grown film. This, in turn, influences the carrier dynamics as measured by LITG, but also the surface roughness and growth rate as shown by SEM.