Despite being a bona-fide bulk insulator, diamond develops an intriguing two-dimensional (2D) p-type surface conductivity when its surface is terminated by hydrogen and exposed to appropriate surface adsorbate layer as a result of the surface transfer doping process. Consequently, the surface of diamond presents a versatile platform for exploiting some of the extraordinary physical and chemical properties of diamond, leading to applications such as chemical/biological sensing and the development of high-power and high-frequency field-effect transistors (FETs). In this talk, I will describe our recent work on the surface transfer doping of diamond by transition metal oxides (TMOs), which give rise to an underlying two-dimensional (2D) hole conducting layer on diamond that can be harnessed for building devices and the exploration of quantum transport properties.
|