Diamond devices for high power, high frequency electronics

Natural diamond displays a number of extreme physical, optical and electrical properties; of particular interest to the device engineer are the high energy band gap, breakdown voltage, saturated carrier velocity, resistivity and thermal conductivity of diamond allied to its low dielectric constant and thermal co-efficient of expansion. The emergence of techniques for the formation of thin films of diamond on n on-diamond substrates had lead to considerable interest in the potential use of this accessible form of the material for the fabrication of electronic devices. In particular, claims that thin film diamond will enable very high performance devices which may be operated in conditions of elevated temperature or in aggressive environments have been made. This paper considers the performance that may be expected from electronic devices fabricated specifically for high power, high frequency applications. The likelihood of achieving such performance levels is then discussed in the light of the material properties displayed by state of the art thin films of diamond and those that may be reasonably expected to become available in the near future