Pixel diamond detectors for excimer laser beam diagnostics

Laser beam profiling technology in the UV spectrum of light is evolving with the increase of excimer lasers and lamps applications, that span from lithography for VLSI circuits to eye surgery. The development of a beam-profiler, able to capture the excimer laser single pulse and process the acquired pixel current signals in the time period between each pulse, is mandatory for such applications. 1D and 2D array detectors have been realized on polycrystalline CVD diamond specimens. The fast diamond photoresponse, in the ns time regime, suggests the suitability of such devices for fine tuning feedback of high-power pulsed-laser cavities, whereas solar-blindness guarantees high performance in UV beam diagnostics, also under high intensity background illumination. Offering unique properties in terms of thermal conductivity and visible-light transparency, diamond represents one of the most suitable candidate for the detection of high-power UV laser emission. The relatively high resistivity of diamond in the dark has allowed the fabrication of photoconductive vertical pixel-detectors. A semitransparent light-receiving back-side contact has been used for detector biasing. Each pixel signal has been conditioned by a multi-channel read-out electronics made up of a high-sensitive integrator and a Σ-Δ A/D converter. The 500 μs conversion time has allowed a data acquisition rate up to 2 kSPS (Sample Per Second). © 2011 SPIE.