Simulation and Bonding of Dopants in Nanocrystalline Diamond

The doping of the wide-band gap semiconductor diamond has lead to the invention of many electronic and optoelectronic devices. Impurities can be introduced into diamond during chemical vapor deposition or high pressure–high temperature growth, resulting in materials with unusual physical and chemical properties. For electronic applications one of the main objectives in the doping of diamond is the production of p-type and n-type semiconductors materials; however, the study of dopants in diamond nanoparticles is considered important for use in nanodevices, or as qubits for quantum computing. Such devices require that bonding of dopants in nanodiamond must be positioned substitutionally at a lattice site, and must exhibit minimal or no possibility of diffusion to the nanocrystallite surface. In light of these requirements, a number of computational studies have been undertaken to examine the stability of various dopants in various forms of nanocrystalline diamond. Presented here is a review of some such studies, undertaken using quantum mechanical based simulation methods, to provide an overview of the crystal stability of doped nanodiamond for use in diamondoid nanodevices.