A tip for scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) was fabricated from semiconducting, chemical vapor deposited (CVD) diamond, epitaxially grown on a natural diamond substrate. Extremely high,phyphen;type conductivity was realized by heavy boron doping. A sharp tip was obtained by conventional diamond polishing in such a way that the ultimate tip (radius12 nm) is situated in the electrically conductive CVD layer. Atomic resolution on graphite surfaces could easily be obtained under normal operating conditions for STM in air. The feasibility of using the diamond tip to create nanostructures on surfaces was also investigated.
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