Diamond probe hosting an atomic sized defect

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020088762-A1
Application number	US-201816494217-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 13, 2018
Priority date	Mar 13, 2017
Publication date	Mar 19, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method of manufacturing, characterizing, mounting, and a system of a probe may include a pillar having a taper angle and at least one engineered defect. The taper angle may be formed using crystallographic- or etching-based techniques. The probe may be mounted to an AFM chip. Furthermore, an RF waveguide may be connected to the AFM chip for providing RF excitation.

First claim

1 . A method of fabricating a probe, the method comprising:
providing a substrate including at least one engineered defect; applying an etch mask to a first surface of the substrate to form at least one pillar mask portion; etching the first surface to produce at least one pillar using at least one etching condition, wherein the pillar comprises:
a base,
a tip,
a tapered portion extending from the base toward the tip, the tapered portion having a taper angle controlled by the etching condition, and
at least one of the at least one engineered defect;
applying a second etch mask film to an opposing second surface of the substrate, the second etch mask configured to provide:
a masked area located on the second surface configured to mask an area containing the pillar, and
an exposed area substantially surrounding the masked area; and
etching the exposed area of the opposing surface of the substrate to release a portion of the substrate comprising the pillar, wherein the released portion comprises the probe.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one engineered defect comprises a plurality of engineered defects, and wherein the etching the first surface to produce at least one pillar using the at least one etching condition comprises etching the first surface to produce a plurality of pillars using the at least one etching condition.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein a density of the plurality of engineered defects on the substrate is configured to provide at least one defect in at least one of the plurality of pillars.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the density of the plurality of engineered defects on the substrate is configured to provide a plurality of defects in at least one of the plurality of pillars.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the engineered defect is proximate to a first surface of the substrate.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the pillar comprises a plurality of engineered defects.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the tapered portion is a waveguide.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the taper angle is determined by a faceting characteristic of the substrate.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the taper angle is between 3.4 to 35 degrees.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one etching condition comprises controlling an RF substrate power.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the substrate power is between 0-40 W.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising etching a lens structure on the second surface, wherein the lens structure is configured to focus light emitted by the at least one engineered defect in the at least one pillar

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the etched substrate is between 2 and 160 times the height of the pillar.

14 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising mounting the probe onto a cantilever of an atomic force microscopy (AFM) chip.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising placing a radio frequency (RF) waveguide in close proximity to the probe.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the placing the radio (RF) waveguide in close proximity to the probe comprises at least one of:
printing a conductive material on at least one of a surface of the cantilever and the second surface of the probe, and attaching an RF micro-antenna to the AFM chip.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the etching the first surface and the etching the exposed area of the opposing surface of the substrate comprises reactive-ion etching (RIE).

18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one etching condition comprises aligning the first etch mask to a crystallographic direction of the substrate

19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the etching the first surface comprises RIE-ICP.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the at least one etching condition comprises adjusting an electron beam lithography (EBL) exposure dose of the first mask and adjusting an RIE-ICP recipe of the etching the first surface.

21 . A probe system comprising:
an atomic force microscopy (AFM) chip; an RF waveguide attached to the AFM chip; and a probe, the probe comprising:
a substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, and
a pillar, the pillar comprising:
a base connected to the first surface,
a tip opposite the base,
a tapered portion extending from the base toward the tip, the tapered portion having a taper angle, and
at least one engineered defect; and

wherein the second surface of the probe is attached to the AFM chip.

22 . The probe system of claim 21 , wherein the RF waveguide is in close proximity to the probe.

23 . The probe system of claim 21 , wherein the second surface of the probe is attached to the protrusion by an adhesive.

24 . The probe system of claim 21 , wherein the taper angle is between 3.4 and 35 degrees.

25 . The probe system of claim 21 , wherein the substrate further comprises a lens structure etched on the second surface for focusing light emitted by the at least one engineered defect in the pillar.

26 . The probe system of claim 21 , wherein a thickness of the etched substrate is between 2 and 160 times the height of the pillar.

27 . The probe system of claim 21 , wherein the probe is attached to one of a cantilever and a quartz rod of the AFM chip.

28 . The probe system of claim 21 , wherein the RF waveguide attached to the AFM chip comprises a metal strip applied to the second surface of the probe

29 . The probe system of claim 21 , wherein the RF waveguide attached to the AFM chip comprises a metal wire attached to the AFM chip.

30 . The probe system of claim 21 , wherein the RF waveguide attached to the AFM chip comprises a metal layer disposed on the second surface of the probe and extending over an edge of the probe in the proximity of the pillar.

31 . A method of fabricating a probe, the method comprising:
providing a substrate including at least one engineered defect; applying an etch mask to a first surface of the substrate to form at least one pillar mask portion; etching the first surface to produce at least one pillar, wherein the pillar comprises:
a base,
a tip,
a tapered portion extending from the base toward the tip, the tapered portion having a taper angle, and
at least one of the at least one engineered defect;
applying a second etch mask film to an opposing second surface of the substrate, the second etch mask configured to provide:
a masked area located on the second surface configured to mask an area containing the pillar, and
an exposed area substantially surrounding the masked area; and etching the exposed area of the opposing surface of the substrate to release a portion of the substrate comprising the pillar, wherein the released portion comprises the probe.

32 . The method of claim 31 , wherein the etching comprises oxygen-based reactive ion etching.

33 . The method of claim 31 , further comprising depositing an adhesion layer on the first surface of the substrate prior to applying the electron-sensitive film to the first surface of the substrate.

34 . The method of claim 31 , wherein the etch mask film comprises titanium.

35 . The method of

Assignees

• Harvard College

Inventors

• Zhou Xu
• Stohr Rainer Joachim
• Xie Ling
• Yacoby Amir

Classifications

• G01Q70/14 Primary

  Particular materials · CPC title

• G01Q60/08

  MFM [Magnetic Force Microscopy] combined with AFM [Atomic Force Microscopy · CPC title

• G01Q60/38

  Probes, their manufacture, or their related instrumentation, e.g. holders · CPC title