Pick-up and drop transfer of diamond nanosheets

Nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) is a promising material for electronic and mechanical micro- and nanodevices. Here we introduce a versatile pick-up and drop technique that makes it possible to investigate the electrical, optical and mechanical properties of as-grown NCD films. Using this technique, NCD nanosheets, as thin as 55 nm, can be picked-up from a growth substrate and positioned on another substrate. As a proof of concept, electronic devices and mechanical resonators are fabricated and their properties are characterized. In addition, the versatility of the method is further explored by transferring NCD nanosheets onto an optical fiber, which allows measuring its optical absorption. Finally, we show that NCD nanosheets can also be transferred onto two-dimensional crystals, such as MoS 2 , to fabricate heterostructures. Pick-up and drop transfer enables the fabrication of a variety of NCD-based devices without requiring lithography or wet processing.

V Seshan, J O Island, R van Leeuwen, W J Venstra, B H Schneider, S D Janssens, K Haenen, E J R Sudhölter, L C P M de Smet, H S J van der Zant, G A Steele and A Castellanos-Gomez

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