Diamond GaN devices and associated methods

1. A method of making a semiconductor device, comprising:

polishing a working surface of a diamond layer to a substantially flat surface;

depositing a buffer layer on the working surface of the diamond layer; and

depositing a semiconductor layer on the buffer layer, wherein the buffer layer c-axis is oriented perpendicular to the working surface of the diamond layer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the buffer layer is a member selected from the group consisting of a carbide, an oxide, a nitride, and combinations thereof, and wherein the buffer layer is domain matched with the diamond layer.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substantially flat surface has an RA that is from about 1 nm to about 10 nm.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the semiconductor layer is a member selected from the group consisting of GaN, (B,Al)N, AlN, and combinations thereof.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising doping at least one of the diamond layer and the semiconductor layer.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the diamond layer is a polycrystalline diamond layer.

7. A method of making a semiconductor device, comprising:

polishing a working surface of a diamond layer to a substantially flat surface;

depositing a buffer layer on the working surface of the diamond layer; and

depositing a semiconductor layer on the buffer layer, wherein the buffer layer is a member selected from the group consisting of TiC, ZrC, graphene, AlN, (B,Al)N, TiN, TaN, ZnO, NiO, and combinations thereof.

8. A method of making a semiconductor device, comprising:

depositing a graphene layer on the working surface of a substrate;

applying pressure and heat to the graphene layer to facilitate alignment of the graphene layer with at least 50% of substrate atoms; and

depositing a GaN layer on the graphene layer.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the substrate is a diamond layer and depositing the graphene layer on the working surface of the diamond layer includes:

polishing a working surface of the diamond layer to a substantially flat surface; and

applying pressure and heat to the graphene layer to reorganize at least a portion of the diamond layer into a substantially single crystal diamond lattice at the graphene layer interface.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the substrate is a member selected from the group consisting of metals, glasses, ceramics, single crystal silicons, polysilicons, semiconductors, and combinations thereof.

11. A method for making a semiconductor device, comprising;

polishing a working surface of a diamond layer to a substantially flat surface;

depositing a buffer layer on the working surface of the diamond layer;

depositing a GaN material on the buffer layer to form a plurality of GaN islands; and

growing the plurality of GaN islands in directions parallel to and perpendicular to the buffer layer to form a GaN layer, wherein the GaN islands are each less than about 100 nanometers in diameter prior to growing.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the GaN islands are each from about 10 nanometers to about 50 nanometers in diameter prior to growing.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein N from the GaN material aligns along a c-axis orientation perpendicular to the working surface of the diamond layer, and Ga from the GaN material aligns along an A-B axis.

14. A method for making a semiconductor device, comprising;

polishing a working surface of a diamond layer to a substantially flat surface;

depositing a buffer layer on the working surface of the diamond layer;

depositing a GaN material on the buffer layer to form a plurality of GaN islands;

growing the plurality of GaN islands in directions parallel to and perpendicular to the buffer layer to form a GaN layer; and

heat treating the GaN layer to minimize crystal lattice dislocations.

15. A method for making a cubic-lattice semiconductor device, comprising:

polishing a working surface of a diamond layer to a substantially flat surface;

depositing a buffer layer on the working surface of the diamond layer; and

depositing a GaN material on the buffer layer such that the buffer layer orients the GaN material into a cubic GaN layer.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the buffer layer is a carbide or a nitride of a member selected from the group consisting of Ti, Zu, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, and combinations thereof.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the buffer layer is TiN.

18. A diamond semiconductor device, comprising:

a p-type doped diamond layer having a polished working surface;

a buffer layer disposed on the polished working surface of the diamond layer; and

an n-type doped semiconductor layer disposed on the buffer layer; wherein the semiconductor layer is a GaN layer having a cubic lattice orientation.