Electrical contacts on diamond
AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorsMichael W. Geis, Mordechai Rothschild, Daniel J. Ehrlich
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Abstract
A method for forming ohmic contacts on diamond substrates, where, by irradiating a diamond substrate with radiation having a wavelength in the neighborhood of 193 nm, regions of enhanced electrical conductivity may be formed without substantially heating the substrate surface. Metal films may be applied to obtain ohmic or Schottky type contacts on the irradiated sites. The invention may be used to form regions of anisotropic and isotropic enhanced conductivity. Regions of anisotropic conductivity may be employed as polarizing optical devices.
Claims22
A method for forming an electrical contact on a diamond electrical component substrate by creating a region of enhanced conductivity in said diamond component substrate suitable as an electrical contact without substantially heating said electrical component substrate, comprising the steps of:
- selecting a prepared diamond electrical component substrate;
- placing said substrate in the beam path of a light source capable of providing light of approximately 193 nm wavelength;
- irradiating said substrate with said light from said source to create a substantially non-graphite region of sustained, enhanced conductivity in said substrate;
- and,
- employing said region as an electrical contact to said diamond substrate.
A method of forming a polarizing optical device comprising the steps of:
- selecting a prepared diamond substrate;
- placing said substrate in the beam path of a light source capable of providing light of approximately 193 nm wavelength;
- creating a polarizing region on said substrate by irradiating said substrate with said light from said source to produce a region of enhanced conductivity, said region being more conductive in a first direction than a second direction, and said region having the property of polarizing incident light;
- and
- employing said region as a polarizing optical device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.