The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 07, 2005
Filed:
Oct. 29, 2002
Shuit-tong Lee, Hong Kong, HK;
Igor Bello, Hong Kong, HK;
Wenjun Zhang, Hong Kong, HK;
Chit Yiu Chan, Hong Kong, HK;
Shuit-Tong Lee, Hong Kong, HK;
Igor Bello, Hong Kong, HK;
Wenjun Zhang, Hong Kong, HK;
Chit Yiu Chan, Hong Kong, HK;
City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, HK;
Abstract
The present invention deals with the generation of sharp single crystal diamond tips and the arrays of these tips, and their fabrication technology. The invention combines the deposition of synthetic diamond films with reactive etching processes. Upon the diamond orientation prepared and reactive etching environment with considerable directivity of ions, single crystal diamond tips with different apical angles can be fabricated. Very sharp diamond tips with an apical angle of no more than about 28° and a tip radius smaller than 50 nm are fabricated on pyramidal-shaped [001]-textured diamond films by subsequent reactive etching., The technology is based on selective etching of sp- and sp- hybridized carbons by the activated constituents of an etching environment, in particular based on atomic hydrogen, in a way similar to ion bombardment, which contributes to overall etching and local conversion of diamond to graphitic phase promoting further etching with chemically activated species. This novel method is capable of forming diamond tip arrays over large areas with great uniformity and high reproducibility. The diamond tips prepared are single diamond crystals with their [001] axes parallel each other and normal to the substrate surface. The invented technology enables the control of the apical angle, radius and density of the diamond tips.