Microfabrication of diamond probe for atomic force microscope

AFM probes consisting of a diamond cantilever and a diamond tip were fabricated using a newly developed micromachining process based on the CVD of diamond film. The tips were fabricated by diamond deposition onto a Si mold formed by anisotropic etching in a KOH solution. It was possible to realize a sharp diamond tip with an apex radius of less than several tens of nm. The cantilevers were fabricated by selective deposition of diamond film patterns. This process was realized by mechanically damaging the substrate surface and subsequent pattern etching of the damaged layer, leaving a damaged pattern of high nucleation density on the substrate surface. Finally, the base of the fabricated diamond probe was coated with an Al layer by evaporation and then attached to a glass backing plate with epoxy adhesive to facilitate handling. We also discuss the possibility of attaching the glass backing plate by anodic bonding to further increase accuracy. Applying the fabricated V-shaped and rectangular diamond probes to measurements on a commercial AFM system, it was demonstrated that they were capable of obtaining AFM images.