Diamond devices as characterisation tools for novel photon sources

Diamond polycrystalline films have been synthesised using the Chemical Vapo ur Deposition (CVD) technique in order to fabricate new types of photo-dete ctors for novel photon source characterisation. We present here diamond-bas ed new devices for a range of applications, including (i) VUV spectral outp ut monitoring down to 125 nm, with high selectivity with respect to UV. The se devices exhibit a VUV to UV sensitivity ratio above 400, thus demonstrat ing their solar blindness. Another aspect (ii) addresses the design of inte nsity or beam position monitors (resolution < 2 mu m) for extremely low wav elengths as encountered in synchrotron light source experiments. These dete ctors enable in-line beam characterisation with low cross-section. Further, (iii) since diamond exhibits a low carrier lifetime (much less than 1 ns), detectors have been fabricated for the temporal characterisation of ultra- fast (< 100 ps) laser pulse duration monitoring. They can be used for the c haracterisation of short laser pulses as well as for synchrotron machine di agnostics. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.