Recent advances in focused ion beam technology have enabled high-resolution, direct-write nanofabrication using light ions. Studies with light ions to date have, however, focused on milling of materials where sub-surface ion beam damage does not inhibit device performance. Here we report on direct-write milling of single crystal diamond using a focused beam of oxygen ions. Material quality is assessed by Raman and luminescence analysis, and reveals that the damage layer generated by oxygen ions can be removed by nonintrusive post-processing methods such as localised electron beam induced chemical etching.
@article{arxiv.1501.07633,
title = {Direct-write milling of diamond by a focused oxygen ion beam},
author = {Aiden A. Martin and Steven Randolph and Aurelien Botman and Milos Toth and Igor Aharonovich},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1501.07633},
year = {2015}
}