Diamond/AlN Thin Films for Optical Applications

In this work we report on membranes made of nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) and AlN for the use in tunable micro-optics. For the growth of the AlN and NCD thin films, magnetron sputtering and chemical vapor deposition techniques have been used, respectively. A chemical-mechanical polishing process of NCD layers has been introduced, which is crucial for the growth of c-oriented, fiber textured AlN films. AlN layers deposited on as grown and polished nanocrystalline diamond along with free standing membranes have been compared by studying microstructure, surface morphology, piezoelectrical response as well as optical properties.