Cathodoluminescence characterization of a nitrogen-doped homoepitaxial diamond thin film.

Strong modification of the optical spectra is apparent in nitrogen-doped chemical vapor deposited (CVD) diamonds. Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defects in CVD diamond are effectively created by nitrogen doping with a high concentration of the gaseous phase. In particular, the 575 nm center and 637 nm centers are enhanced in intensity at a N doping level of around 10¹⁸ at./cm³, while nitrogen addition during CVD growth leads to quenching of both the exciton and H3 centers. The influence of nitrogen doping on the exciton and NV defect states in a homoepitaxial CVD diamond thin film was investigated by high-resolution cathodoluminescence experiment. In addition, Raman experiments were performed to detect the internal stress. The results show that the exciton and nitrogen-related defect emission spectra underwent a shift of the peak position to a longer wavelength by nitrogen doping. The characteristic Raman peak of diamond at 1332 cm^-1 showed a shift toward lower wave numbers with increasing nitrogen incorporation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]