Epitaxial Cu contacts on semiconducting diamond

In this study Cu films of 30 nm and 200 nm thickness have been grown on natural type IIb semiconducting diamond C(001) substrates by electron-beam evaporation at 500 °C in UHV. As evidenced by Rutherford backscattering/channeling techniques and in situ low-energy electron diffraction, the as-deposited layers were shown to be epitaxial, with χ Cu = 49%. In addition, the technique of atomic force microscopy has demonstrated island morphology, indicative of three-dimensional growth. Moreover, the Cu films displayed excellent adhesion properties with the underlying diamond substrate. Corresponding current-voltage (I–V) measurements conducted at room temperature have shown rectifying characteristics. In addition, a Schottky barrier height of Φ B ≈ 1.1eV has been determined from ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy.