DIAMOND MICRO- AND NANOSTRUCTURING BY ACCELERATED CLUSTER EROSION

Reactive accelerated cluster erosion (RACE) has been used for direct micro- and nanostructuring of bulk diamond. Carbondioxide nanoparticles of about 1000 molecules are accelerated to 100keV energy in order to erode a staircase structure or a toothed wheel into diamond by using appropriate movable or fixed masks. Non-reactive erosion by argon clusters is slower but more effectively polishing. Large-scale molecular dynamics simulations show the nanoparticle impacts to lead to transient craters which relax to a very smooth surface via collective elastic recovery. The enhanced or reduced erosion of the respective cluster material is illuminated.