Effects of H2O vapor-assisted on focused ion beam milling of single- crystal diamond: Sputtering yield enhancement and damage suppression

Y Yang and QL Wang and CL Ma and BJ Gu and L Chen and L Han, NUCLEAR INSTRUMENTS & METHODS IN PHYSICS RESEARCH SECTION B-BEAM INTERACTIONS WITH MATERIALS AND ATOMS, 567, 165816 (2025).

DOI: 10.1016/j.nimb.2025.165816

In this work, the sputtering yield and damage in single-crystal diamond were investigated using molecular dynamics simulations during H2O vapor- assisted Focused Ion Beam (FIB) milling. A comparative analysis of FIB sputtering and vapor-assisted processes revealed that H2O vapor increased the sputtering yield, while simultaneously suppressing the evolution of internal damage and graphitization in processing regions. The presence of H2O vapor assisted in generating a broader stress variation region on the diamond surface and suppressed the diffusion of implanted ions, promoting their localized distribution. Mean-squared displacement (MSD) analysis further revealed that the presence of H2O vapor significantly reduced the displacement of carbon atoms in the processed region, resulting in greater processing stability and precision. These findings demonstrated the dual advantages of H2O-assisted FIB in enhancing material removal efficiency and minimizing subsurface damage, offering theoretical insights and practical guidance for precision diamond machining.

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