Successive current–voltage measurements of a thick isolated diamond film

Polycrystalline diamond films were deposited on p-type (1 0 0) silicon substrate using a methane/hydrogen gas mixture in a microwave plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition system. After the back-etched process, the Al contacts were evaporated on both sides of a 150 μm thick isolated diamond film for consecutive high-voltage measurements. It was found that the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of the Al/diamond/Al structure exhibited two Schottky barrier diodes in a back-to-back configuration. Since the top diamond surface possessed better diamond quality than the bottom surface, the top Schottky diode with a breakdown voltage of 897 V and a lower breakdown voltage of −515 V for the bottom Schottky diode was observed for the first I–V measurement. However, the breakdown voltage was decreased by 37 and 140 V for the top and bottom Schottky diodes after the consecutive sixth repeated measurements. It was found that the oxygenated phenomenon was more prominent; in addition, the quality of the isolated diamond film was also degraded after the consecutive high-voltage measurements. It was indicated that decrease of the breakdown voltage was due to the oxidation layer and the non-diamond components on both surfaces of the isolated diamond film.