RADIATION HARD DIAMOND TRANSISTORS FOR THE SUPERCONDUCTING SUPER COLLIDER

DIAMOND HAS LONG BEEN CONSIDERED AN IDEAL SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIAL FOR A NUMBER OF HIGH PERFORMANCE MICROELECTRONIC APPLICATIONS. ALTHOUGH OTHER SEMICONDUCTORS CAN BE MADE RADIATION TOLERANT TO A CERTAIN DEGREE, DIAMOND HAS THE HIGHEST INHERENT RESISTANCE TO RADIATION-INDUCED DAMAGE. CONSEQUENTLY, DIAMOND FILMS HAVE GENERATED CONSIDERABLE INTEREST FOR USE AS GAIN DEVICES IN RADIATION DETECTORS AND AS AN ENABLING TECHNOLOGY FOR RADIATION-TOLERANT STRIP TRACKERS FOR THE SUPERCONDUCTING SUPER COLLIDER. TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF DIAMOND'S HIGH RADIATION TOLERANCE, FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTORS ARE BEING FABRICATED FROM HOMOEPITAXIAL SINGLE-CRYSTAL DIAMOND, GROWN USING CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION TECHNIQUES. THESE DEVICES WILL HAVE MANY ADVANTAGES OVER THOSE MADE FROM OTHER MATERIALS: HIGH RADIATION RESISTANCE, HIGH TEMPERATURE OPERATING CAPABILITY, HIGH CARRIER MOBILITY AND VELOCITY, AND A LARGE BREAKDOWN FIELD. AS PART OF THIS EFFORT, PN-JUNCTION TECHNOLOGY WILL ALSO BE DEVELOPED TO FABRICATE THE GATE JUNCTION OF THE DIAMOND TRANSISTOR. (RECENT RESULTS HAVE SHOWN THAT PN-JUNCTIONS CAN BE FORMED IN LOW DEFECT, HOMOEPITAXIALLY-GROWN, SINGLE-CRYSTAL DIAMOND.) FINALLY, THIS WORK IS ESTABLISHING THE MECHANISM RESPONSIBLE FOR N-TYPE DOPING AND IS DEVELOPING THE ENGINEERING TECHNIQUES REQUIRED FOR CONTROLLED JUNCTION FORMATION.