Ultrashort 30-fs laser photoablation for high-precision and damage-free diamond machining
A 30-fs, 800 nm, 1 kHz femtosecond was used to photoablate diamond across radiant energy doses of 1 - 500 kJ/cm^2, with fluences of 10 - 50 J/cm^2 and, pulse counts from 100 to 10,000. The objective was to maximise material removal while minimising surface roughness (Ra) by operating above the photoablation threshold. Results demonstrate that 30-fs laser photoablation achieves Ra <0.1 \mum, meeting both high- and ultra-high-precision machining standards, while maintaining surface integrity and preventing heat-affected zone (HAZ) damage. At 1 kJ/cm^2 (10 J/cm^2 fluence, 100 pulses), an Ra of 0.09 \mum was achieved, satisfying ultra-high precision criteria (Ra <0.1 \mum). Additionally, doses below 10 kJ/cm^2 consistently met high-precision machining requirements (Ra <0.2 \mum). Photoablation efficiency peaked below 50 kJ/cm^2, after which material removal diminished, indicating non-linear process limitations. The sp3-diamond phase remained intact, as confirmed by the unchanged T2g Raman mode at 1332 cm^-1, with no detectable Raman G or D modes, confirming the absence of sp2-related graphitization, structural disorder, of nitrogen vacancy (NV) centre annealing. These findings establish 30 fs laser processing as a high-precision, damage-free approach for diamond machining, with promising applications in NV centre-containing quantum materials and advanced tooling.