Inclined surfaces in diamond: broadband antireflective structures and coupling light through waveguides

Control of the sidewall angle of diamond microstructures was achieved by varying the gas mixture, bias power and mask shape during inductively coupled plasma etching. Different etch mechanisms were responsible for the angle of the lower and upper part of the sidewall formed during diamond etching. These angles could to some extent be controlled separately. The developed etch process was used to fabricate wideband antireflective structures with an average transmission of 96.4% for wavelengths between 10 and 50 µm. Smooth facetted edges for coupling light through waveguides from above were also demonstrated.