Crystallographic Orientation Dependent Reactive Ion Etch in Single Crystal Diamond

Sculpturing desired shapes in single crystal diamond is ever more crucial in the realization of complex devices for nanophotonics, quantum computing, and quantum optics. The crystallographic orientation dependent wet etch of single crystalline silicon in potassium hydroxide (KOH) allows a range of shapes formed and has significant impacts on MEMS (microelectromechanical systems), AFM (atomic force microscopy), and microfluidics. Here, a crystal direction dependent dry etching principle in an inductively-coupled plasma reactive ion etcher is presented, which allows to selectively reveal desired crystal planes in monocrystalline diamond by controlling the etching conditions. The principle is demonstrated when the kinetic energy of incident ions on diamond surfaces is reduced below a certain threshold leading to anisotropic etching and faceting along specific crystal planes. Using the principle, monolithic diamond nanopillars for magnetometry using nitrogen vacancy centers are fabricated. In these nanopillars, a half-tapering angle up to 21° is achieved, the highest angle reported, which leads to a high photon efficiency and high mechanical strength of the nanopillar. These results represent the first demonstration of crystallographic orientation dependent reactive ion etch principle, which opens a new window for shaping specific nanostructures which is at the heart of nanotechnology. It is believed that this principle will prove to be valuable for structuring and patterning of other single crystal materials as well.