Excimer laser beam analyzer based on CVD diamond

1-D and 2-D detector arrays have been realized on CVD-diamond. The relatively high resistivity of diamond in the dark allowed the fabrication of photoconductive "sandwich" strip (1D) or pixel (2D) detectors: a semitransparent light-receiving back-side contact was used for detector biasing. Cross-talk between pixels was limited by using intermediate guard contacts connected at the same ground potential of the pixels. Each pixel photocurrent was conditioned by a read-out electronics composed by a high sensitive integrator and a Σ- Δ ADC converter. The overall 500 μs conversion time allowed a data acquisition rate up to 2 kSPS. The measured fast photoresponse of the samples in the ns time regime suggests to use the proposed 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 technology of laser beam profiling is evolving with the increase of excimer lasers applications that span from laser-cutting to VLSI and MEMS technologies. Indeed, to improve emission performances, fine tuning of the laser cavity is required. In such a view, the development of a beam-profiler, able to work in real-time between each laser pulse, is mandatory. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.