Single crystal diamond tips for scanning probe microscopy.

Single crystal diamond tips with perfect pyramidal geometry were obtained by a combination of chemical vapor deposition and selective oxidation of polycrystalline films. The parameters of the deposition process were chosen to provide growth of a textured film consisting of micrometer sized diamond crystallites embedded into nanodiamond ballas-like material. The heating of the film in an air environment was used for selective oxidation of the nanodiamond component.