Apr 12 2016
This article was adapted from Optical Engineering of Diamond, edited by Richard P. Mildren and James R. Rabeau. Click here to download a free sample chapter.
This article provides an overview of the intrinsic optical properties of diamond. Diamond is made from carbon - the lowest mass element capable of forming a highly symmetrical crystal lattice that is both stable and covalently bonded.
This structure leads to a unique set of optical and material properties which, along with improvements in the manufacture of synthetic diamonds, have created interest for its application in a wide range of technologies, such as light manipulators, sensors, and sources.
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Generally, the optical characteristics of diamond sit well apart from other materials, and providing scope for enhanced capability. A complete understanding of how electromagnetic radiation interacts with the surface and bulk of diamond is central to achieving improved optical design.
Characterizing diamond's optical performance
In any type of material, the set of parameters defining optical performance is extensive; this is also true for diamond, despite the simplicity of its lattice structure. The dataset must cover a wide range of environmental parameters, optical frequencies, and intensities, and also take into consideration variations in the material itself, including levels and types of impurity and defects, isotopic composition, and crystal size.
Diamond’s naturally pure isotopic content of 98.9% 12C and highly symmetric structure make it an excellent example for fundamental studies in solid state theory.
This means there has been extensive research into the optical properties of diamond, making it better known than most materials.
A number of excellent reviews concerning the optical properties of diamond have been published in the past.
However, these reviews are written from perspectives such as electronics and solid state physics, and are therefore focused mainly on linear optical properties and extrinsic phenomena.
An Optical Engineering Perspective
There is therefore a need for the existing data on the properties of diamond to be consolidated from the perspective of optical design. In addition, the nonlinear optical properties of diamond have not been fully reviewed until now.
The first chapter of Optical Engineering of Diamond aims to address this, focusing especially on the inherent properties of pure Type IIa diamond, or single-crystal diamond.
The chapter also discusses the dependence of optical properties on variables like isotopic composition, temperature, and wavelength.
While limited to bulk inherent optical properties, the aim is to provide a good knowledge base, in order to encourage further investigation as development in measurement techniques allow areas such as crystal variants, surface optics, and nano-optical effects to become more deeply understood.
Download the free sample chapter
This article was adapted from Optical Engineering of Diamond, First Edition. Edited by Richard P. Mildren and James R. Rabeau. © 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.