Boron-doped diamond single crystals for probes of the high-vacuum tunneling microscopy

The results of studying the structure of diamond single crystals grown by the temperature gradient method with the aim to obtain samples having maximum uniform characteristics for manufacturing probes for scanning electron microscopes with a specified axial orientation and controlled distribution of the dopant have been considered. It has been shown that the use of similar probes in scanning tunneling microscopy decreases the probability of incidental tunneling channels with participation of the surface states caused by the presence of boron atoms in the diamond structure and increases the reliability of experimental data. The high stability of monocrystalline diamond probes and the possibility to attain the atomic resolution with the help of them have been demonstrated by the investigations of the (0001) graphite plane using scanning tunneling microscopy.