Three dimensional laser microfabrication in diamond using a dual adaptive optics system

Femtosecond laser fabrication of controlled three dimensional structures deep in the bulk of diamond is facilitated by a dual adaptive optics system. A deformable mirror is used in parallel with a liquid crystal spatial light modulator to compensate the extreme aberrations caused by the refractive index mismatch between the diamond and the objective immersion medium. It is shown that aberration compensation is essential for the generation of controlled micron-scale features at depths greater than 200 mu m, and the dual adaptive optics approach demonstrates increased fabrication efficiency relative to experiments using a single adaptive element. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America