Surface damage on diamond membranes fabricated by ion implantation and lift-off

Abstract

Thin membranes with excellent optical properties are essential elements in diamond based photonic systems. Due to the chemical inertness of diamond, ion beam processing must be employed to carve photonic structures. One method to realize such membranes is ion-implantation graphitization followed by chemical removal of the sacrificial graphite. The interface revealed when the sacrificial layer is removed has interesting properties. To investigate this interface, we employed the surface sensitive technique of grazing angle channeled Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy. Even after high temperature annealing and chemical etching a thin layer of damaged diamond remains, however, it is removed by hydrogen plasma exposure. Show more