Development of All-Diamond Scanning Probes Based on Faraday Cage Angled Etching Techniques

Abstract: We are proposing a novel fabrication method for single crystal diamond scanning probes, exploiting the method of Faraday cage angled etching (FCAE). Electron-beam lithography (EBL) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching as state-of-the-art method is often limiting the achievable diamond structure geometries in aspect ratio and complexity. This poses challenges, e.g., for realizing nitrogen vacancy (NV) centre magnetometry scanning probes. Combining a planar design with FCAE offers several advantages over the established fabrication technology of nano-opto-mechanical diamond devices. Here, we report on the direct comparison of both approaches and present first proof-of-concept FCAE-prototypes for scanning probe applications.