Nanometer Niobium Carbide Metalization on Diamond Substrate

Diamond's unique properties make it attractive for use in a variety of industrial applications. However, this material has not found mass application in microelectronics due to several factors, including the lack of large-sized plates, n-type doping, and high-quality metallization

The challenge of diamond surface metallization by forming niobium carbide layers might be an exciting approach.

A niobium carbide film with several nanometers thickness   exhibits superconducting behavior up to 12.4 K. This is believed to be the highest superconducting transition temperature achieved in the niobium carbide system. The crystal lattice parameter of the film is 4.4659 Å, which is close to the maximum value for niobium carbide lattice parameters. Density functional theory calculations were employed to investigate the thermodynamic stability of niobium carbide compounds at various temperatures and determine the superconducting critical temperature of niobium carbide. The combination of diamond's high thermal conductivity, along with the strong adhesion and superconductivity of niobium carbide films, introduces exciting possibilities for the realization of superconductive sensitive detectors.

Niobium was deposited on the diamond surface by magnetron sputtering and annealed in vacuum to form NbC at different temperatures. Such films on diamond are promising in various fields of science and technology, especially for single-photon detectors

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