Raman investigation of femtosecond laser-induced graphitic columns in single-crystal diamond

We report on the fabrication of graphitic columns induced in single-crystal diamond plates using 100 fs laser pulses at 800 nm wavelength. Different values of laser fluence (0.6-1.2 J/cm2) and graphitization speed (1-100 micrometers/s) were used for the laser treatment. A Raman investigation was performed aimed at evaluating the structural properties of the fabricated columns, showing that a lower laser fluence and a proper choice of graphitization speed may improve the degree of graphite crystallinity, and suppress the residual diamond content.