Open AccessAnisotropic diamond etching through thermochemical reaction between Ni and diamond in high-temperature water vapour
Author(s) -
Masao Nagai,
Kotoyoshi Nakanishi,
Hiraku Takahashi,
Hiromitsu Kato,
Toshiharu Makino,
Satoshi Yamasaki,
Tetsuya Matsumoto,
Takao Inokuma,
Norio Tokuda
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/s41598-018-25193-2
Subject(s) - diamond , etching (microfabrication) , reactive ion etching , materials science , material properties of diamond , plasma etching , isotropic etching , synthetic diamond , nanotechnology , anisotropy , optoelectronics , composite material , optics , physics , layer (electronics)
Diamond possesses excellent physical and electronic properties, and thus various applications that use diamond are under development. Additionally, the control of diamond geometry by etching technique is essential for such applications. However, conventional wet processes used for etching other materials are ineffective for diamond. Moreover, plasma processes currently employed for diamond etching are not selective, and plasma-induced damage to diamond deteriorates the device-performances. Here, we report a non-plasma etching process for single crystal diamond using thermochemical reaction between Ni and diamond in high-temperature water vapour. Diamond under Ni films was selectively etched, with no etching at other locations. A diamond-etching rate of approximately 8.7 μm/min (1000 °C) was successfully achieved. To the best of our knowledge, this rate is considerably greater than those reported so far for other diamond-etching processes, including plasma processes. The anisotropy observed for this diamond etching was considerably similar to that observed for Si etching using KOH.