Evans, Steven; (2020) Growth, Optical Properties and Applications of Thin Film Diamond. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Diamond’s chemical inertness and high transparency over a wide wavelength range makes it ideal for many optical applications. However, one of the drawbacks of using diamond is that 29% of the incident light is reflected and so additional methods must be used to increase or alter the transmission properties. One technique that achieves this is by coating the optical component with another material with a suitable refractive index. Recent developments in the synthesis of diamond using plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition have allowed the fabrication of relatively uniform and pinhole free thin films making it possible to use it as part of an optical system. However, the method of deposition makes it difficult to incorporate into standard processes where multiple layers of different materials are required. In this thesis, the optical properties of thin membranes made of nanocrystalline diamond are evaluated and modified by coating the membranes with dielectric layers. Applications of these composite films are examined as part of a tunable lens, where the deformable membrane that adjusts the focal length is made of a double layer antireflection coating, to increase the transmission at a set wavelength. Additionally, the use of these membranes as very thin beam splitters has been explored and measurements taken to show how these components can be used to modify the polarisation state of the transmitted and reflected light. Ways to determine more complicated coating structures are then examined and some novel coating structures are presented which could be used to coat a diamond optical component.

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