Diamond-Based Microsystems

Dear Colleagues,

Diamond features a wide range of outstanding physical and chemical properties that offer many promises for new and extreme applications, ranging from power electronics and bipolar high-frequency devices to quantum sensing, heat spreaders, chemical/biochemical sensing, microdosimetry, and in-vivo neural interfacing, to name a few. Diamond-based MEMS/NEMS devices can benefit, for instance, from the material’s exceptional mechanical properties, including a Young’s modulus approaching 1100 GPa. Such devices will find applications in chemical/biochemical sensors, RF switches, microresonators for harsh environments, and so on. Recent technologies have also been developed to produce nitrogen-vacancies (NV) centers in the close vicinity of the diamond surfaces, with long spin coherence time constants. Here, the application of NV centers for magnetometry gains increasing momentum for the future generation of navigation devices, magnetic resonance imaging, local current sensing, and many more. Furthermore, hybrid diamond-/GaN-based MMICs have been demonstrated, taking advantage of the highest known thermal conductivity of diamond (1600–2000 W·m⁻¹·K⁻¹) to achieve, for example, ultra-high data rate communication devices, even though challenges like those associated with the thermal barrier resistance between GaN and high thermally conducting diamond substrates remain. Furthermore, when doped with boron, diamond makes a remarkable electrode material, with a low intrinsic capacitive current and wide potential window in aqueous media, offering many opportunities for high-performance analytical sensing. The biocompatibility of diamond, along with its high stability, is also extremly attractive for implantable stimulating electrodes. Recent examples include retinal implants. Diamond-based electron emitters for the generation of solvated electrons in buffer solutions are also currently being developed, typically for CO₂ reduction. Thus, with this Special Issue, we welcome research papers in these areas where recent progress in diamond processing techniques, including surface smooting, patterning, etching, deposition on exotic materials, and so on, enables the development of “diamond-based microsystems” that address some of the important challenges of our societies in the medical, security, energy, and technology domains.

Dr. Emmanuel Scorsone
Guest Editor

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• Diamond microsystems
• MEMS/NEMS
• Microsystems for magnetometry and single photon-generation
• Bio/chemical sensors
• Electronic components
• Implantable devices
• Bio-interfaces
• Electrophysiology
• Electrochemical sensors
• Microdosimeters