Boron Nitride and Semiconducting Diamond; Interface Formation and Electronic States

Cubic boron nitride (c-BN), hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), and semiconducting diamond all have physical properties that make them ideal materials for applications in high power and high frequency electronics, as well as radiation detectors. However, there is limited research on the unique properties and growth of c-BN or h-BN thin films. This dissertation addresses the deposition of c-BN via plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) on boron doped diamond substrates. In-Situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is used to characterize the thickness and hexagonal to cubic ratio of boron nitride thin films. The effects of hydrogen concentration during the deposition of boron nitride are investigated. The boron nitride deposition rate is found to be dependent on the hydrogen gas flow. The sp2 to sp3 bonding is also found to be dependent on the hydrogen gas flow. Preferential growth of h-BN is observed when an excess of hydrogen is supplied to the reaction, while h-BN growth is suppressed when hydrogen flow is reduced to be the limiting reactant. Reduced hydrogen flow is also observed to promote preferential growth of c-BN. The hydrogen limited reaction is used to deposit c-BN on single crystal (100) boron-doped diamond substrates. In-situ ultra-violet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and XPS are used to deduce the valence band offset of the diamond/c-BN interface. A valence band offset of -0.3 eV is measured with the diamond VBM above the VBM of c-BN. This value is then discussed in context of previous experimental results and theoretical calculations. Finally, UPS and XPS are used to characterize the surface states of phosphorus-doped diamond. Variations within the processing parameters for surface preparation and the effects on the electronic surface states are presented and discussed.