Homogeneous Free-Standing Nanostructures from Bulk Diamond over Millimeter Scales for Quantum Technologies.

Corazza, Andrea; Ruffieux, Silvia; Zhu, Yuchun; Jaramillo Concha, Claudio A; Fontana, Yannik; Galland, Christophe; Warburton, Richard J; Maletinsky, Patrick · Nano Lett · 2025

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Quantum devices based on optically addressable spin qubits in diamond are promising platforms for quantum technologies such as quantum sensing and communication. Nano- and microstructuring of the diamond crystal is essential to enhance device performance, yet fabrication remains challenging and often involves trade-offs in surface quality, aspect ratio, device size, and uniformity. We tackle this hurdle with an approach producing millimeter-scale, thin (down to 70 nm), and highly parallel (< 0.35 nm/μm) membranes from single-crystal diamond. The membranes remain contamination free and possess atomically smooth surfaces (R<sub>q</sub> <  200 pm) as required by state-of-the-art quantum applications. We demonstrate the benefits and versatility of our method by fabricating large fields of free-standing and homogeneous photonic nano- and microstructures. Leveraging a refined photolithography-based strategy, our method offers enhanced scalability and produces robust structures suitable for direct use, while remaining compatible with heterogeneous integration through pick-and-place transfer techniques.