Nitrogen-doped ultrananocrystalline diamond/hydrogenated amorphous carbon composite (UNCD/a-C:H) films were deposited by pulsed laser deposition. The film doped with a nitrogen content of 7.9 at. % possessed n-type conduction with an electrical conductivity of 18 Ω-1·cm-1 at 300 K. A heterojunction with p-type Si exhibited typical rectifying action. The UNCD grain size was estimated to be 2.5 nm from X-ray diffraction measurement. Near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies revealed the preferential formations of C=N and C–N bonds and an enhanced amount of sp2 bonds in the films.

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The atomic bonding configuration of ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD)/hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) films prepared by pulsed laser ablation of graphite in a hydrogen atmosphere was examined by near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. The measured spectra were decomposed with simple component spectra, and they were analyzed in detail. As compared to the a-C:H films deposited at room substrate-temperature, the UNCD/a-C:H and nonhydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C) films deposited at a substrate-temperature of exhibited enhanced and peaks. At the elevated substrate-temperature, the and bonds formation is enhanced while the C–H and C–C bonds formation is suppressed. The UNCD/a-C:H film showed a larger C–C peak than the a-C film deposited at the same elevated substrate-temperature in vacuum. We believe that the intense C–C peak is evidently responsible for UNCD crystallites existence in the film.

Heterojunction diodes, which comprise boron-doped p-type ultrananocrystalline diamond/hydrogenated amorphous carbon composite (UNCD/a-C:H) films prepared by coaxial arc plasma deposition and n-type Si substrates, were electrically studied. The current–voltage characteristics showed a typical rectification action. An ideality factor of 3.7 in the forward-current implies that carrier transport is accompanied by some processes such as tunneling in addition to the generation–recombination process. From the capacitance–voltage measurements, the built-in potential was estimated to be approximately 0.6 eV, which is in agreement with that in a band diagram prepared on the assumption that carriers are transported in an a-C:H matrix in UNCD/a-C:H. Photodetection for 254 nm monochromatic light, which is predominantly attributable to photocurrents generated in UNCD grains, was evidently confirmed in heterojunctions. Since dangling bonds are detectable by electron spin resonance spectroscopy, their control might be an important key for improving the rectifying action and photodetection performance.

Nitrogen-doped ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD)/hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) composite films, which possessed n-type conduction with enhanced electrical conductivity, were prepared by pulsed laser deposition. The film doped with a nitrogen content of 7.9 at. % possessed enhanced electrical conductivity of 18 Ω-1·cm-1 at 300 K. The near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure (NEXAFS) measurement indicated the appearance of additional peaks due to π* C=N, σ* C=N, and σ* C–N bonds compared with the spectra of undoped films. The sp2 bonding fraction estimated from the NEXAFS spectra increased with the nitrogen content. The enhanced electrical conductivity is probably due to the formation of additional π* and σ* states and the enhancement in the sp2 bonding fraction.