The combined electron and hole mobility of a single-crystal type IIa natural diamond and a polycrystalline diamond film deposited by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) were measured using transient photoconductivity as a function of excitation density (1013–1017 cm−3) and temperature (120–410 K). In natural diamond the temperature dependence suggests that the mobility is limited by phonon scattering at low free carrier densities, and by electron-hole scattering at high densities. The combined electron and hole phonon-limited mobility at room temperature is 3000 (±500) cm2/V s. In the CVD film, the mobility at room temperature was estimated to be 50 cm2/V s at low excitation densities. The temperature dependence of the mobility-lifetime product at low excitation densities is different from that of natural diamond, and suggests that charged center scattering, rather than acoustic phonon scattering, is the dominant effect. High densities of nitrogen and dislocations are known to be present in the natural diamond, and these appear to be the dominant recombination sites which limit the carrier lifetime. In the polycrystalline film a variety of structural defects and impurities are believed to exist, but it is unknown which of these dominates the transport and recombination properties.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.