Laser interference structuring of a-GeN for the production of optical diffraction gratings

In this work, we study the pulsed laser crystallization of hydrogen-free amorphous germanium-nitrogen alloys (a-GeN). We discuss the role of nitrogen during phase transitions and the possible application of the resulting structure as an optical diffraction grating. The crystallized region results of pure microcrystalline germanium (μc-Ge). An indication that Ge-N bonds have broken and nitrogen outdiffused of the film is obtained from infrared spectroscopy and confirmed by Raman spectra. A pattern of alternating a-GeN and μc-Ge lines with a period of about 4 μm acts as an optical diffraction grating due to the difference in optical properties between the two materials, and the three dimensional surface profile, caused by N 2 effusion, that is formed on the sample.