EPR spectroscopy of low-dimension structures produced in natural diamonds and synthetic diamond films by ion implantation (review)

We give a brief overview of the results of investigations that gave birth to new trends in radiospectroscopy, physics of interactions of atomic particles with condensed materials, and solid-state physics, especially, physics of superhard materials. The main factors that provided the basis for these trends are as follows.

1. High-energy ion implantation into solids plays a constructive role with respect to the solid matrix. A modified structure composed of matrix atoms and characterized by both short-range and long-range orders different from the initial one is formed as a result of this implantation. Low-dimension systems of a new class, whose properties are described in the present work, were produced in diamonds. A distinguishing feature of this new class of elements is that one-dimensional elements possesing their own spatial ordering of atoms constitute a volume superlattice composed of the same atoms in a three-dimensional crystalline matrix.
2. Radiospectroscopy methods can be used to identify formations with sizes greater than 0.1 μm in one dimension (along with traditional objects with sizes within the nanorange in three dimensions) and study their properties. These objects are characterized by a number of essentially new radiospectroscopic properties: superlinear kinetics of resonance absorption, an additional nonzero phase angle in the recorded absorption signal relative to the hf modulation field in the absence of saturation, (“phase angle”), an anomalous increase in the intensity of absorption with an increase in the modulation frequency of the static field (in the absence of saturation), and a super-Lorentizian shape of the resonance absorption line. These properties provide a basis for radiospectroscopic identification of mobile quasiparticles with nonzero spin (like to solitons) in solids.
3. A system of “channels” with high electroconductivity (in the microwave range) can be produced in dielectric solids, specifically in superhard materials. Individual channels can have cross-sectional sizes of up to sizes of the nanorange. This can serve as a basis for the development of electronic devices with elements having cross-sectional sizes that are significantly smaller than those of elements of traditional microelectronics as small as the sizes of elements of nanotechnology.