Focused ion beam-based microfabrication of boron-doped diamond single-crystal tip cantilevers for electrical and mechanical scanning probe microscopy

[Display omitted] •The application of a focused electron and ion beam to deposit diamond particle.•Determination of the cantilever mass change by thermomechanical noise analysis.•Single-crystal boron-doped diamond tip usage as measuring probes.•High aspect ratio tip formation enabled by focused ion beam.•Conductive diamond tip reliability in scanning probe microscopy measurements. In this paper, the fabrication process and electromechanical properties of novel atomic force microscopy probes utilising single-crystal boron-doped diamond are presented. The developed probes integrate scanning tips made of chemical vapour deposition-grown, freestanding diamond foil. The fabrication procedure was performed using nanomanipulation techniques combined with scanning electron microscopy and focused ion beam technologies. The mechanical properties of the cantilever were monitored by the measurement of thermally induced vibration of the cantilever after every fabrication step, allowing the mass changes in range of ng to be estimated. The endurance of the developed probes was tested during hundreds of topography measurements, which corresponds to a scanning length equal to 13.6 m, performed on a test sample in contact and lateral force microscopy modes. Analysis of the roughness parameters confirmed the extremely high wear resistance of the fabricated probes. The linear current voltage response on a highly-oriented pyrolytic graphite sample was recorded.