Single-Crystal Diamond Nanomechanical Resonators with Quality Factors exceeding one Million

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the fabrication of single-crystal diamond nanomechanical resonators with quality factors over one million at room temperature, significantly enhancing force sensitivity and potential for quantum applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel fabrication process for high-quality single-crystal diamond resonators with superior mechanical performance compared to silicon counterparts.

Findings

Quality factors exceeding one million at room temperature

Force sensitivities of a few hundred zeptonewtons at millikelvin temperatures

Diamond resonators outperform silicon in similar dimensions

Abstract

We present nanofabrication and mechanical measurements of single-crystal diamond cantilevers with thickness down to 85 nm, thickness uniformity better than 20 nm, and lateral dimensions up to 240 um. Quality factors exceeding one million are found at room temperature, surpassing those of state-of-the-art single-crystal silicon cantilevers of similar dimensions by roughly an order of magnitude. Force sensitivities of a few hundred zeptonewtons result for the best cantilevers at millikelvin temperatures. Single-crystal diamond could thus directly improve existing force and mass sensors by a simple substitution of resonator material, and lead to quantum nanomechanical devices with exceptionally low energy dissipation.