Development of Conductive Boron-Doped Diamond Electrode: A microscopic, Spectroscopic, and Voltammetric Study

Materials

Kevin E. Bennet³  Kendall H. Lee¹  James N. Kruchowski³  Su-Youne Chang¹  Michael P. Marsh¹  Alexander A. Van Orsow³  Aurelio Paez² 

[1] Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; E-Mails:;Department of Physics, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA; E-Mail:;Division of Engineering, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; E-Mails:

关键词: confocal Raman microscopy;    scanning electron microscopy;    infrared absorption spectroscopy;    fast-scan cyclic voltammetry;    boron-doped diamond;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ma6125726

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Building on diamond characteristics such as hardness, chemical inertness and low electron emission threshold voltage, the current microscopic, spectroscopic and voltammetric investigations are directed towards improving the properties of electrode coating materials for their future use in clinical studies of deep brain stimulation via fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV). In this study we combine the capabilities of confocal Raman mapping in providing detailed and accurate analysis of local distributions of material constituents in a series of boron-doped polycrystalline diamond films grown by chemical vapor deposition, with information from the more conventional techniques of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and infrared absorption spectroscopy. Although SEM images show a uniform distribution of film crystallites, they have the limitation of being unable to differentiate the distribution of boron in the diamond. Values of 10¹⁸–10²¹ atoms/cm³ of boron content have been estimated from the absorption coefficient of the 1290 cm⁻¹ infrared absorption band and from the 500 cm⁻¹ Raman vibration. The observed accumulation of boron atoms and carbon sp² impurities at the grain boundaries suggests that very high doping levels do not necessarily contribute to improvement of the material’s conductivity, corroborating with voltammetric data. FSCV results also indicate an enhanced stability of analyte detection.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.