sp3 Diamond Technologies, Inc., a leading supplier of diamond products, deposition equipment and services, announced that it has shipped its Model 655D Series hot filament chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond reactor system to the University of California, Berkeley’s Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory. The Model 655D system will be used to fabricate diamond microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) structures for the development of micromechanical resonators for radio frequency (RF) filters.

“Researchers at Berkeley are now able to demonstrate the ability of hot filament CVD diamond deposition to provide cost-effective, high quality, low-stress thin films suitable for MEMS devices,” said Dr. Bill Flounders, Executive Director of the Berkeley Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory. “Diamond is a valuable addition to our thin film deposition capability. The sp3 system will allow the Berkeley NanoLab to offer diamond films for integration with MEMS resonators as well as explore other uses for thin film diamond in a wide range of applications.”

The Model 655D shipped to UC Berkeley is configured for diamond deposition onto multiple 6-inch diameter silicon wafers. sp3’s hot filament CVD diamond reactors grow high-quality, uniform polycrystalline diamond films ranging in thickness from 100 nanometers to 50 microns that exhibit exceptionally high thermal diffusivity and greater thermal conductivity than other material choices. Processes available for the Model 655D Series offer a wide range of smooth and rough textured films for low friction, abrasive, MEMS, and electronic applications and support boron-doping to produce conductive films.

“The world-wide diamond community has long recognized the potential of diamond films for use as a material in high-frequency resonators,” said Dwain Aidala, president and CEO of sp3. “This order from UC Berkeley clearly demonstrates the viability of diamond films for novel MEMS applications. It also exemplifies how our unique hot filament diamond deposition technology and materials expertise has enabled the increased adoption of diamond films into a growing range of markets.”

To learn more about sp3’s diamond deposition technology and MEMS applications, visit sp3’s exhibit at MEPTEC’s 10th Annual MEMS Technology Symposium at the Holiday Inn in San Jose on May 23, 2012 or MEMS Business Forum 2012 on May 24, 2012 at the Biltmore Hotel and Suites in Santa Clara.

Source: sp3 Diamond Technologies, Inc.