title: Vertically aligned nanowires from boron-doped diamond.
abstract: Vertically aligned diamond nanowires with controlled geometrical properties like length and distance between wires were fabricated by use of nanodiamond particles as a hard mask and by use of reactive ion etching. The surface structure, electronic properties, and electrochemical functionalization of diamond nanowires were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) as well as electrochemical techniques. AFM and STM experiments show that diamond nanowire etched for 10 s have wire-typed structures with 3-10 nm in length and with typically 11 nm spacing in between. The electrode active area of diamond nanowires is enhanced by a factor of 2. The functionalization of nanowire tips with nitrophenyl molecules is characterized by STM on clean and on nitrophenyl molecule-modified diamond nanowires. Tip-modified diamond nanowires are promising with respect to biosensor applications where controlled biomolecule bonding is required to improve chemical stability and sensing significantly.
authors.affiliation: Diamond Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba 305-8568, Japan. nianjun-yang@asit.go.jp
authors.forename: Nianjun
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uetsuka
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Osawa
authors.forename: Christoph E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Nebel
mesh_terms: D001895:Boron / Q000737:chemistry*; D018130:Diamond / Q000737:chemistry*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D016252:Microscopy, Scanning Tunneling; D053770:Nanowires / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D018130:Diamond; D001895:Boron