Homoepitaxial diamond layers doped with boron in the 10(20)-10(21) cm(-3) range are shown to be type II superconductors with sharp transitions (approximately 0.2 K) at temperatures increasing from 0 to 2.1 K with boron contents. The critical concentration for the onset of superconductivity in those 001-oriented single-crystalline films is about 5-7 10(20) cm(-3). The H-T phase diagram has been obtained from transport and ac-susceptibility measurements down to 300 mK.

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Heavily B-doped polycrystalline diamond films ([B]≳1019 cm−3) are studied by Raman spectroscopy and electron spin resonance. The formation of an impurity band is accompanied by a Fano-type interference for the one-phonon scattering. Bands at 1200 and 500 cm−1 are observed in Raman spectroscopy for concentrations above 1020 cm−3. They are related to maxima in the phonon density of states, and are ascribed to disordered regions or crystalline regions of very small size. The concentration of defects associated with the paramagnetic signal observed around g=2.0030 increases drastically above 1021 B cm−3. The Mott insulator-metal transition is accompanied by the presence of a new paramagnetic signal (g=2.0007 for 2×1020 B cm−3, g=1.9990 for 1021 B cm−3) ascribed to free holes in the impurity band.

International audienceHigh forward current density of 103 A/cm2 (at 6 V) and a breakdown field larger than 7.7 MV/cm for diamond diodes with a pseudo-vertical architecture, are demonstrated. The power figure of merit is above 244 MW/cm2 and the relative standard deviation of the reverse current density over 83 diodes is 10% with a mean value of 10 9 A/cm2. These results are obtained with zirconium as Schottky contacts on the oxygenated (100) oriented surface of a stack comprising an optimized lightly boron doped diamond layer on a heavily boron doped one, epitaxially grown on a Ib substrate. The origin of such performances are discussed