Quantum oscillations of the two-dimensional hole gas at atomically flat diamond surfaces

Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations are observed in atomically flat hydrogen-terminated diamond surfaces with high-density hole carriers introduced by the electric field effect using an ionic liquid. The Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations depend only on the magnetic field component perpendicular to the diamond surface, thus providing evidence of two-dimensional Fermi surfaces. The effective masses estimated from the temperature dependence of the oscillations are close to the cyclotron effective masses of the valence band maxima in diamond. The estimated quantum scattering time is one order of magnitude longer than the transport scattering time and indicates that the carrier mobility is locally as high as several thousand cm2/V s at low temperature.