Patterned growth of heteroepitaxial diamond

A novel micro fabrication method for heteroepitaxial diamond was developed. Substrates used in present work were heteroepitaxial Ir(001) films deposited on MgO(001) by sputtering method. The Ir surfaces were treated with ion irradiation of CH4/H-2 gas by dc discharge using planar diode. Resist masks were patterned on the ion irradiated Ir surface by electron-beam lithography. The mask patterned Ir surface was etched by Ar ion to remove the irradiated surface at non-pattemed area using an ion beam etching system. Then, diamond was grown on the substrate by dc plasma CVD method. As a result, we have successfully fabricated the heteroepitaxial diamond on the patterned areas of the substrate in submicron scale. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.