Publication
Title
Local boron environment in B-doped nanocrystalline diamond films
Author
Abstract
Thin films of heavily B-doped nanocrystalline diamond (B:NCD) have been investigated by a combination of high resolution annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy and spatially resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy performed on a state-of-the-art aberration corrected instrument to determine the B concentration, distribution and the local B environment. Concentrations of [similar]1 to 3 at.% of boron are found to be embedded within individual grains. Even though most NCD grains are surrounded by a thin amorphous shell, elemental mapping of the B and C signal shows no preferential embedding of B in these amorphous shells or in grain boundaries between the NCD grains, in contrast with earlier work on more macroscopic superconducting polycrystalline B-doped diamond films. Detailed inspection of the fine structure of the boron K-edge and comparison with density functional theory calculated fine structure energy-loss near-edge structure signatures confirms that the B atoms present in the diamond grains are substitutional atoms embedded tetrahedrally into the diamond lattice.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Nanoscale / Royal Society of Chemistry [London] - Cambridge, 2009, currens
Publication
Cambridge : 2012
ISSN
2040-3364 [print]
2040-3372 [online]
Volume/pages
4 :19 (2012) , p. 5960-5964
ISI
000308705900026
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
ESMI - European Soft Matter Infrastructure.
MATCON: Materials and Interfaces for Energy Conversion and Storages
Study of mechanisms for diamond nucleation in the presence of a metal based interlayer.
DINAMO: Development of diamond intracellular nanoprobes for oncogen transformation dynamics
XANES meets ELNES: a study of heterogeneous materials at different length scales.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 10.10.2012
Last edited 15.11.2022
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