Charge-carrier properties in synthetic single-crystal diamond measured with the transient-current technique

For optimal operation of chemical-vapor deposition (CVD) diamonds as charged particle detectors it is important to have a detailed understanding of the charge-carrier transport mechanism. This includes the determination of electron and hole drift velocities as a function of electric field, charge carrier lifetimes, as well as effective concentration of space charge in the detector bulk. We use the transient-current technique, which allows a direct determination of these parameters in a single measurement, to investigate the charge-carrier properties in a sample of single-crystal CVD diamond. The method is based on the injection of charge using an alpha source close to the surface and measuring the induced current in the detector electrodes as a function of time.