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Dissociation of B-H pairs in diamond as enhanced by electronic excitation and electron capture: Computational modeling

Semiconductors need impurities to allow them to conduct electricity, and hence build devices, but the doping of diamond has proved challenging. Experiments have suggested that a combination of boron and hydrogen could work, but that exposure to a beam of electrons would break up these dopant complexes. We show in this paper using quantum-mechanically based simulations that the mechanism of this failure is most probably related to the direct electrical charging of the dopants. This provides clear evidence that the mechanism for producing doped diamond for power electronics is fundamentally flawed. Subsequently, focus has moved to alkali metal doping.