Ultrafast laser processing of diamond

Abstract

Ultrashort pulsed lasers are used to fabricate 3D structures in single crystal CVD diamond. The interaction of the laser with diamond lattice leads to a permanent structural modification, which is highly localized at the focus. Severe spherical aberrations compromise fabrication precision below the diamond surface. We implement adaptive aberration compensation to ensure optimum fabrication performance. The nature of the structural modification is analysed for both surface and subsurface laser fabrications.