Hydrogen termination of diamond lowers its ionization energy, driving electron transfer from the valence band into an adsorbed water layer or to a strong molecular acceptor. This gives rise to p-type surface conductivity with holes confined to a subsurface layer of a few nanometers thickness. The transfer doping mechanism, the electronic behavior of the resulting hole accumulation layer, and the development of robust field-effect transistor (FET) devices using this platform are reviewed. An alternative method of modulating the hole carrier density has been developed based upon an electrolyte-gate architecture. The operation of the resulting “solution-gated” FET architecture in two contemporary applications will be described: the charge state control of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond and biosensing. Despite 25 years of work in this area, our knowledge of surface conductivity of diamond continues to develop.

Diamond is a unique material that often exhibits extreme properties compared to other materials. Discovered about 30 years ago, the use of hydrogen in plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has enabled the growth and coating of diamond in film form on various substrate materials. CVD diamond research has been actively continued subsequently to develop new understanding and approaches for the growth and processing of this fascinating material. Currently, the study and development of diamond films has enabled a wide range of applications based on the combination of unique and extreme properties of diamond and the variety of film properties obtainable through tuning the microstructure, morphology, impurities, and surfaces. This issue of MRS Bulletin introduces the latest research, recent applications, and the challenges ahead for CVD diamond films.

Diamond has been attracting the attention of many researchers because of its potential for new applications such as in quantum devices and power electronics. These applications are enabled by the progress made in improving the quality of undoped, boron-doped, and phosphorus-doped diamond films grown by chemical vapor deposition techniques. Recent progress in diamond film growth and heterostructures of diamond and other compound semiconductors to realize these electronics applications are reported.

Diamond films with good electron emission properties show great potential for applications such as electron sources. For single-crystalline diamond, the negative electron affinity at hydrogen-terminated surfaces enables efficient emission of conduction electrons into vacuum. Although electrons are not naturally present in the diamond conduction band, p–n junction diode structures make this possible; electrons are injected from n-type diamond to the conduction band of p-type diamond, giving rise to electron emission with efficiencies exceeding 1%. Alternatively, impacting electron beams can be used to inject “secondary” electrons into the conduction band, resulting in high emission gain. For ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) films with versatile granular structure, enhanced electron field emission (EFE) properties can be achieved by altering the granular structure of the films. Utilization of nanoscale tips as templates for growing UNCD film or direct reactive ion etching of the film further enhances their EFE behavior. On the other hand, the release of electrons through application of thermal energy can be utilized in a thermionic energy converter to directly transform heat into electricity. With the addition of ion current from doped diamond emitters to the thermionic electron current, power output enhancement of the converter can be realized.

The aim of this study is to assess the time-dependent mechanical properties of rat femoral cortical bone in a lifespan model from growth to senescence. New nanoindentation protocol was performed to assess the time-dependent mechanical behavior. The experimental data were fitted with an elastic–viscoelastic–plastic–viscoplastic mechanical model allowing the calculus of the mechanical properties. Variation of mechanical response of bone as a function of the strain rate and age were highlighted. The most representative variations of the mechanical properties with age were found to be statistically significant (P < 0.001) from 1 to 4 months for elastic properties, from 1 to 9 months for viscoelastic properties and during all lifespan for plastic and viscoplastic properties, highlighting different maturation ages for elastic, viscoelastic, plastic and viscoplastic behaviors. These results suggest that different physical–chemical and structural processes occur at different ages reflecting bone modeling and remodeling activities in the rat's whole lifespan.

SnZn(OH)6 (ZHS) hollow cubes were synthesized by a facile self-templated method at room temperature, and Ag/AgCl/ZHS particles were prepared by a photodepositing method. The crystalline structure and morphology of the prepared particles were characterized by x-ray diffraction, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and N2 adsorption. The results indicated that the particles had almost uniform monoclinic geometry and size. The photocatalytic oxidation of Rhodamine B was used to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of the synthesized photocatalysts. It is found that the hollow Ag/AgCl/ZHS showed the highest catalytic performance under visible or UV light, which can be attributed to the synergetic effect of Ag, AgCl, and ZHS.