Single crystal diamond tips for scanning probe microscopy

Abstract

Single crystal diamond tips with perfect pyramidal geometry were obtained by a combination of chemical vapor deposition and selective oxidation of polycrystalline films. The parameters of the deposition process were chosen to provide growth of a textured film consisting of micrometer sized diamond crystallites embedded into nanodiamond ballas-like material. The heating of the film in an air environment was used for selective oxidation of the nanodiamond component. The films obtained contain free standing pyramidal single crystal diamond tips oriented by their apexes to the substrate surface. The tips were used for the fabrication of atomic force microscopy probes and their evaluation in comparison to common silicon probes.

Color center fluorescence and spin manipulation in single crystal, pyramidal diamond tips

“…The parameters of our CVD process ensure that (100) facets grow slowest and thus with minimized defect density. 7 In contrast, on lateral surfaces of crystals growing with (100) facets, highly defective, nano-crystalline diamond forms. As a consequence, pyramidal diamond micro-crystals with square, (100)-oriented basal planes evolve, which are embedded into the nano-crystalline material.…”

“…6 An approach avoiding this problem is the growth of diamond pyramids detachable from the growth substrate and transferable one-by-one to AFM cantilevers. 7 AFM scanning probes using such pyramids are commercially available 8 and might significantly broaden the application range of scanning probe imaging with color centers.…”

“…Heat treatment in air entirely removes the latter and transferring the pyramids to AFM cantilevers becomes feasible. 7 We note that the pyramids are mounted to the cantilevers using epoxy. The apex of the pyramid often has a radius of curvature of 2-20 nm, thus rendering these diamonds ideally suitable as ultra-hard AFM tips for high resolution topography imaging or nano-indentation measurements.…”

Люминесцентные Свойства Монокристаллов Алмаза Пирамидальной Формы

“…Образцы были получены в результате последова-тельного проведения процессов ГФХО и селективного окисления [11][12][13]. С помощью ГФХО-методики полу-чались поликристаллические пленки с (001)-текстурой, состоящие из алмазных кристаллитов микрометрового размера в окружении сильнодефектного (в том чисде неалмазного) материала.…”

“…Возможность при-менения таких иглоподобных кристаллитов в качестве зондов для сканирующей микроскопии была продемон-стрирована ранее (см. [13,14]). В настоящей работе представлены результаты сравнительного исследования фото-и катодолюминесцентных свойств пирамидальных кристаллитов алмаза.…”