Diamond-based sensors that can withstand extreme pressures and temperatures have many commercial applications. The sensors, installed inside a drilling bore, could transmit data about the stresses encountered in deep-sea drilling for oil and natural gas, for example.A new Class 7000 cleanroom in the Department of Physics will allow for more and better research with diamond-based technologies by UAB's Center for Nanoscale Materials and Biointegration.
Among them, the center will be using the first electrical micro-circuit fabricated on diamond using maskless lithography.
This process uses micro-mirrors to direct light to expose the photoresist so that circuits can be drawn atop the diamond. The circuit then is encapsulated to protect it from environmental degradation and exposure by depositing a chemical vapor in a single-crystal diamond layer, said CNMB Director Yogesh Vohra.
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Vohra said the new sensors will be used in high-pressure diamond anvil cell devices, and they also are exploring applications in other extreme environments, such as deep-well drilling and monitoring in high temperatures.
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