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Tuning donor level of nitrogen-doped diamond by deep strain engineering—An ab initio study

MetadataDetails
Publication Date2023-08-07
JournalApplied Physics Letters
AuthorsLimin Yang, Rong Fan, Alice Hu, Junzhang Ma, Yingxia Liu
InstitutionsCity University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen Research Institute, University of Hong Kong
Citations9

The development of diamond semiconductor devices has been hindered by the challenge of preparing n-type diamond with a shallow donor state. Recently, elastic strain engineering has emerged as a promising strategy for modulating the electrical properties of diamond. In this study, we used first-principles calculations to investigate the influence of large, uniaxial elastic strain on the electrical properties of nitrogen (N)-doped diamond, particularly the donor level. We found that both tensile and compressive strains can shift the donor level of N to a shallower state, but compressive strains of more than 9% along [100] appear more effective in making N a shallower donor in strained diamond. This study offers insights for future experimental design to combine strain engineering and doping toward practical diamond semiconductor devices.