Spectroscopic impedance study of nanocrystalline diamond films

Nanocrystalline diamond films were synthesized by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition using Ar/H2/CH4 gas mixtures. A Fluke PM6306 RCL meter was used to study the electrical impedance of these diamond films in the frequency range 50 Hz to 1 MHz. The impedance dispersion measurement yields the real and imaginary parts in the form of a Cole-Cole plot in the complex plane. A single semicircular response of the impedance of nanocrystalline diamond films was observed at temperatures below 250 °C, with a second semicircular response appearing at low frequencies at temperatures above this. The semicircular responses were found to fit a double resistor-capacitor parallel circuit model. Physical mechanisms likely to be responsible for these observations are discussed in this paper.