Stress effect on the resonance properties of single-crystal diamond cantilever resonators for microscopy applications

Micro-cantilever beams have been widely used for surface sensing applications as well as atomic force micro-scope. However, surface stress appears in cantilever beams due to a variety of factors such as the absorption of molecules, temperature variations, materials imperfectness, and the fabrication process. Single-crystal diamond (SCD) has been regarded as an ideal material for cantilever sensors through the surface effect due to the outstanding mechanical rigidity and chemical inertness. In this paper, the authors report on the SCD cantilever beams fabricated by a smart-cut method with high quality factors up to 14 000 and stress characterization by surface geometry curvature observation and Raman microscopy. Although both surface geometry profile and Raman shift show the existence of surface stress in the SCD cantilever beams, the resonance properties are little influenced and maintain excellent rigidity and high quality. Therefore, the SCD-on-SCD resonator provides a promising platform for high-reliability microscopy applications.

Automated summary

This paper focuses on the micro-cantilever beams used in surface sensing applications and atomic force microscopy. Single-crystal diamond (SCD) cantilever beams fabricated by a smart-cut method were characterized for stress using surface geometry curvature observation and Raman microscopy. The results showed that although there was surface stress in the SCD cantilever beams, their resonance properties remained excellent in terms of rigidity and quality, making them a promising platform for high-reliability microscopy applications.