<title>Optical properties of laser-modified diamond surface</title>

Abstract

The results of laser polishing of 350 micrometers thick free- standing diamond films are reported. The polishing was performed with a grazing beam of a copper vapor laser. It is shown that the laser polishing conditions and the resulting surface roughness are controlled by varying an angle of incidence of a scanning laser beam during polishing. The surface roughness of the as-grown films was reduced by an order of magnitude and a minimum roughness of Ra equals 0.38 micrometers was achieved as a result of the two-step polishing. Optical transmission in the UV-visible spectral range of the diamond films polished under the optimized conditions was found to be close to the optical transmission of the mechanically polished diamond film. Properties of the laser-graphitized layer at the diamond surface were studied with optical spectroscopy techniques in the process of oxidative removal of the layer with increasing temperature of the oxidation in ambient air. The optical properties and oxidation stability of the laser-modified surface layer were found to change throughout its thickness from the surface to the diamond interface, depending on the laser polishing regime.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.