The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics (IAF) is a leading science and technology center in the field of micro and nano-structured compound semiconductors and devices made from synthetic diamond.

The Diamond Research Team at IAF is led by C.E. Nebel and consists of 12 members. The team developed an outstanding experience in the growth of nano-, poly- and single crystalline diamond, in diamond related technologies to grow diamond nano-textures, diamond foams and porous diamond films and in the formation of diamond membranes and the realization of diamond electrochemical sensors. Doping of diamond attracted special attention so that meanwhile n- (doping with phosphorus) and p-type diamond (doping with boron) can be grown but also ultra-pure diamond and isotopically enriched diamond films. For electrochemical applications of diamond electrochemical surface termination techniques have been optimized which allow H-, OH- and O-termination of diamond surfaces. Based on spectrally resolved photoconductivity experiments the interaction of light with defects in diamond has been investigated in detail. The team is well suited to achieve the proposed goals of this research proposal. 

In WP1 IAF will grow porous diamond and nano-textured diamond films with intrinsic (undoped) and p-type (boron doped) properties to manufacture and optimize materials with optimized properties for electron emission. In WP2 fluorine termination will be applied by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) treatments to manipulate the electron affinity and wetting properties of diamond. In WP3 IAF will characterize the energy up-conversion of electrons from the valence band into the conduction band by a) multi-photon phenomena via defects in the band gap of diamond and by optical nearfield effects (dressed phonons) in nano-texture structures of diamond. In WP5 IAF will lead the fabrication of a prototype reactor for CO₂ reduction using ionic electrolytes for enhanced CO₂ accumulation.