High-quality single crystal diamond diffraction gratings fabricated by crystallographic etching

We demonstrate a novel method for fabricating single crystal diamond diffraction gratings based on crystallographic etching that yields high-quality diffraction gratings from commercially available <100> diamond plates. Both V-groove and rectangular gratings were fabricated and characterised using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, revealing angles of 57° and 87° depending on the crystal orientation, with mean roughness below R_a = 5 nm on the sidewalls. The gratings were also optically characterised, showing good agreement with simulated results. The fabrication method demonstrated in this contribution shows the way for manufacturing high-quality diamond diffractive components that surpass existing devices both in quality and manufacturability.