Fabrication of microdiamond array and electrical characterization of individual diamond microcrystals based on scanning probe microscopy

A microdiamond array, in which 2500 diamond microparticles 2 mu m in diamet er were precisely arranged in a mu m scale, was fabricated by site-selectiv e plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Diamond was synthesized on a Pt s ubstrate covered with a SiO2 layer 0.2 mu m in thickness on which, using ph otolithographic processes, holes of 2x2 mu m(2) were fabricated in order to expose the Pt surface at the bottom of each hole. Diamond microparticles g rew selectively on these Pt sites based on the great difference between the nucleation densities of diamond on Pt and SiO2 surfaces. At the initial st age of this site-selective CVD, the diamond growth was confined in the hole , and accordingly, a plate-like shaped diamond microparticle was formed. Us ing an electrically conductive probe for atomic force microscopy, the elect rical conductivity of each plate-like diamond particle was measured while s imultaneously acquiring a topographic image of the particles. The diamond p article consisted of multiple grains and their conductivity was not homogen eous. The central regions of the grains were less conductive than their edg e regions. The grain boundaries were as nonconductive as the surrounding Si O2 region. (C) 1999 American Vacuum Society. [S0734-211X(99)00305-4].