ION-BEAM-ASSISTED CHEMICAL ETCHING OF SINGLE-CRYSTAL DIAMOND CHIPS

Ion beam assisted chemical etching (IBACE) of diamond chips with an ar gon ion beam and a reactive oxygen gas flux was investigated. The spec ific etching rate of single crystal diamond chips with a (100) oriente d face increases with increasing ion energy ranging from 300 to 1000 e V. The specific etching rates of the chip processed with 500 eV and 10 00 eV Ar+ ions increase with increasing oxygen partial pressure, and r each a maximum rate at an oxygen partial pressure of approximately 0.0 2 and 0.05 Pa, respectively, and then decrease gradually with increasi ng oxygen partial pressure. The specific etching rate of the chip for IBACE which includes both physical and chemical reactions is approxima tely two times greater than that for ion beam etching (IBE) which caus es only a physical sputtering reaction. Furthermore, the surface rough ness of diamond chips before and after IBACE was evaluated using an at omic force microscope (AFM), Consequently, the surface roughness of th e chip for IBACE increases with increasing substrate temperature, wher eas that for IBE (only Ar+ ions) is almost constant as a function of t he substrate temperature ranging from room temperature to 400 degrees C.