Synthesis of Polycrystalline Diamond Films in Abnormal Glow Discharge and their Properties

The optical and electrophysical properties of polycrystalline diamond films (PDF) deposited from the abnormal glow discharge have been studied. The dominating mechanisms of absorption and charge carrier transfer and the energy spectrum of the localized states (LS) of defects which determine the properties of the films have been specified. The parameters of the interband absorption and electrical conductivity are determined by the continuous energy distribution in the band gap (BG) of the states of defects of different nature. The absorption edge of the crystalline phase of the films is separated from the absorption zone determined by the electron transitions between LS defects. The width of BG is narrowed to 0.2-0.5 eV from the quantity typical to the diamond. An additional film absorption edge is formed in the energy interval 1.2-3.3 eV, where Urbach rule is fulfilled and the interband absorption is realized at direct transitions through the optical gap 1.1-1.5 eV. The average width of BG is 2.6-3.24 eV estimated within semiclassical interband model. The interaction of the parameters of the interband and exponential absorption is determined by the crystal lattice static disorder. The dominating n-type of the activation component of the electrical conductivity is complemented by the hopping mechanism with the participation of the localized states of the defects distributed near the Fermi level with a density 5.6T017-2.1·1021 eV-1-cm-3.