Cleaning of diamond nanoindentation probes with oxygen plasma and carbon dioxide snow

Journal Article · Tue Dec 15 00:00:00 EST 2009 · Review of Scientific Instruments

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3266972· OSTI ID:22051131

Morris, Dylan J ^[1]

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1. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory, 100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 8520, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-8520 (United States)

Diamond nanoindentation probes may perform thousands of indentations over years of service life. There is a broad agreement that the probes need frequent cleaning, but techniques for doing so are mostly anecdotes shared between experimentalists. In preparation for the measurement of the shape of a nanoindentation probe by a scanning probe microscope, cleaning by carbon dioxide snow jets and oxygen plasma was investigated. Repeated indentation on a thumbprint-contaminated surface formed a compound that was very resistant to removal by solvents, CO{sub 2} snow, and plasma. CO{sub 2} snow cleaning is found to be a generally effective cleaning procedure.

• OSTI ID: 22051131
• Journal Information: Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 80, Issue 12; Other Information: (c) 2009 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0034-6748
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CARBON DIOXIDE
DIAMONDS
JETS
MICROSCOPES
MICROSCOPY
OXYGEN
PLASMA
PROBES
PROCESSING
SERVICE LIFE
SNOW
SOLVENTS
SURFACE CLEANING
SURFACE CONTAMINATION
SURFACES