Study of defects in diamond Schottky barrier diode by photocurrent spectroscopy

Abstract Defects in vertical diamond Schottky barrier diodes have been investigated by photocurrent spectroscopy in supercontinuum light photon energy ranging from 1.24 to 3.1 eV, and from 170 to 296 K. The photocurrent spectra exhibit three thresholds located around 1.3, 2.2 and 2.5 eV, which are related to defects energy levels in the active layer of diamond Schottky diodes (a slightly doped boron layer). Although the origin of the reported defects is still under discussion, they can be ascribed to hydrogen and nitrogen related defects. Moreover, the generated photocurrent can be explained by a two-photon process.