Abstracts Book - IMRC 2018

• SC4-P009
STUDIES ON PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS BASED ON NANO-
STRUCTURED DIAMONDS FILMS
Rafael Garcia Gutierrez 1 , Orlando Hector Auciello 2 , Pablo Tirado 1 , Jorge Monte Gutierrez 3 ,
Carlos Perez Rabago 4
1
Universidad de Sonora, Research in Physics, Mexico. 2 University of Texas at Dallas,
Bioengineering, United States. 3 Universidad de Sonora, Physics, Mexico. 4 Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México, Instituo de Energias Renovables, Mexico.
This research is focused on understanding the chemical, structural and electrical
properties of Nanocristalline diamonds films before and after doping with boron
by thermal diffusion. The diamond films were grown by Microwave Plasma
Chemical Vapor Deposition technique on Silicon (100) substrates. The boron
doped diamond films were characterized by Raman, XRD, XPS, 4-point probe
and C-V analysis. Moreover, progress in the Photo-Enhanced Thermionic
Emission (PETE) the Nanocristalline diamond films under solar concentration is
provided in this research. The physics and applications of Nanocrystalline
Diamond (NCD) films have been investigated due to their unique combination
of properties such as high wear resistance, highest hardness relative to any
other film, lowest friction coefficient compared with metal and ceramic coatings,
chemical inertness, negative electron affinity, low work function, and the high
electrical conductivity for boron doped and nitrogen grain boundary
incorporated diamond films. The combination of these properties make doped
diamond films suitable for many applications like electrodes for water
purification, thermionic and field emission devices, and high power electronic
devices. Boron doping of NCD films during growth has the drawback of Boron
contamination of the chamber where the film is grown, which can only be used
for the growth of B-doped diamond films. This presentation will focus on
describing the results research and development of a novel process for Boron
doping large area NCD films by thermal diffusion after growth, thus eliminating
the problem of Boron contamination of the diamond film growth chamber. An
advance on characterizing other properties of NCD films is provided in this
research for use in Photovoltaic Cells. These studies are focused on the optical
properties of NCD films studying afterglow (AG), thermoluminescence (TL),
optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and their relation to the PETE
phenomena. The increase in charge carrier concentration by several orders of
magnitude and the change of semiconductor behavior n-type to p-type confirm
that diamond films were successfully doped with boron. The properties of the