Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Studies of Hf-CVD Diamond Films

Diamond thin films have been deposited on silicon substrates by hot-filament chemical vapor deposition (HF-CVD). Substrate temperature and methane concentration have been varied and the resulting structural properties of the deposited films studied. Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements were performed. The EPR measurements showed a single spectrum at g = 2.0027(2). The bulk concentration of the paramagnetic species, as determined from the total EPR absorption were found to vary in the range 10 17 to 10 19 cm −3 . Low paramagnetic defect concentrations were found for samples exhibiting a low non-diamond carbon contribution to the Raman spectrum. These samples were those grown with a methane concentration of I % or less.