Single crystal diamond cantilever for micro-electromechanical systems

Abstract

A single crystal diamond (SCD) cantilever has been fabricated on HPHT diamond substrate by using ion implantation and patterning technique. Firstly, the carbon ions were vertically implanted into diamond substrate to create a non-diamond layer. Secondly, the diamond substrate was treated with photolithography and metal evaporation techniques to fabricate the desired cantilever pattern. Thirdly, a dry etching technique was used to selectively remove the defined regions. Then an electrochemical etching method was used to etch off non-diamond layer from the substrate. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the suspended SCD cantilever have been investigated by atomic force microscopy. A Young's modulus of 907GPa was estimated using the beam bending theory. At the final stage, an electrostatic actuator of SCD cantilever as a vertical switch device was realized.