Focused ion beam fabrication of boron-doped diamond ultramicroelectrodes

The fabrication of ultramicroelectrodes (UMEs) for analytical electrochemical applications has been explored, using boron-doped diamond as the active electrode material in an insulating coating formed by deposition of electrophoretic paint. Because of the rough nature of the diamond film, the property of such coatings that is normally exploited in the fabrication of UMEs, namely the tendency to retract automatically from sharp protrusions, cannot be used in the present instance. Instead focused ion beam (FIB) sputtering was employed to controllably produce UMEs with well-defined geometry, critical dimension of a few micrometers, and very thin insulating coatings. If the FIB machining is carried out at normal incidence to the diamond electrode surface, significant ion beam damage reduces the yield of successful electrodes. However, if a parallel machining geometry is employed, high yields of ultramicroelectrodes with a flat disk geometry can be obtained very reliably. The electrochemical properties of diamond UMEs are characterized. They show much lower background currents than the equivalent Pt or carbon fiber electrodes but more varied electrochemical response than macroscopic diamond electrodes.