Photoinduced laser etching of a diamond surface

Nongraphitising ablation of the surface of a natural diamond single crystal irradiated by nanosecond UV laser pulses is studied experimentally. For laser fluences below the diamond graphitisation threshold, extremely low diamond etching rates (less than 1nm/1000 pulses) are obtained and the term nanoablation is used just for this process. The dependence of the nanoablation rate on the laser fluence is studied for samples irradiated both in air and in oxygen-free atmosphere. The effect of external heating on the nanoablation rate is analysed and a photochemical mechanism is proposed for describing it.