Peculiarities of high electric field conduction in p-type diamond

摘要

The electrical properties of chemical vapour deposited p-type epitaxial diamond layers are studied in high electric field conditions. The quasi-static current-voltage characteristics have been measured using transmission-line pulse method with 100 ns pulses. Reproducible impurity impact ioni-zation avalanche breakdown occurs at a critical electrical field in the range of 100-200 kV cm~(-1) depending on the acceptor concentration and temperature, leading to complete ionisation of neutral impurities. The current-voltage characteristics exhibit an S-shape with the bi-stable conduction characteristic of impurity impact ionisation.