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Main Authors: Tran, Thanh, Vo, Phuong, Sheppard, Thomas, Grotjohn, Timothy, Quayle, Paul
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.05932
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author Tran, Thanh
Vo, Phuong
Sheppard, Thomas
Grotjohn, Timothy
Quayle, Paul
author_facet Tran, Thanh
Vo, Phuong
Sheppard, Thomas
Grotjohn, Timothy
Quayle, Paul
contents This work studies the correlation between mean retardance and thickness of diamond substrates grown homoepitaxially via microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD). We measure the retardance of a diamond substrate in two orientations: perpendicular and parallel to the growth direction. Our experimental results demonstrate that the correlation between mean retardance and thickness differs for these orientations. When measured perpendicular to the growth direction, the mean retardance is approximately proportional to the square root of the substrate thickness. In contrast, when measured parallel to the growth direction, we observe a generally higher mean retardance and an approximately linear correlation with thickness. This anisotropy arises not from differences in stress magnitude but from differences in the interlayer correlation of the principal stress axes, as evidenced by correlation coefficients between the azimuth angles of consecutive layers in the diamond crystal. To simulate the integrated retardance of diamond wafers, we propose a two-dimensional random walk model with momentum drift, which captures the diamond crystal tendency to preserve the azimuth angle across the samples. By optimizing the momentum factor, we show that the model can closely match experimental data. The momentum factor is found higher along the growth direction, which is consistent with the calculated correlation coefficients. Furthermore, both the model and experiments indicate that retardance-to-thickness ratios of thin samples converge toward similar base retardances in both orientations. These findings establish a quantitative framework for interpreting birefringence in diamond substrates, with implications for material selection and development in thermal management, quantum sensing, high-power electronics, and optical applications.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_05932
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Retardance of lab grown diamond substrates as a function of thickness: momentum-drift random walk model
Tran, Thanh
Vo, Phuong
Sheppard, Thomas
Grotjohn, Timothy
Quayle, Paul
Materials Science
Applied Physics
This work studies the correlation between mean retardance and thickness of diamond substrates grown homoepitaxially via microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD). We measure the retardance of a diamond substrate in two orientations: perpendicular and parallel to the growth direction. Our experimental results demonstrate that the correlation between mean retardance and thickness differs for these orientations. When measured perpendicular to the growth direction, the mean retardance is approximately proportional to the square root of the substrate thickness. In contrast, when measured parallel to the growth direction, we observe a generally higher mean retardance and an approximately linear correlation with thickness. This anisotropy arises not from differences in stress magnitude but from differences in the interlayer correlation of the principal stress axes, as evidenced by correlation coefficients between the azimuth angles of consecutive layers in the diamond crystal. To simulate the integrated retardance of diamond wafers, we propose a two-dimensional random walk model with momentum drift, which captures the diamond crystal tendency to preserve the azimuth angle across the samples. By optimizing the momentum factor, we show that the model can closely match experimental data. The momentum factor is found higher along the growth direction, which is consistent with the calculated correlation coefficients. Furthermore, both the model and experiments indicate that retardance-to-thickness ratios of thin samples converge toward similar base retardances in both orientations. These findings establish a quantitative framework for interpreting birefringence in diamond substrates, with implications for material selection and development in thermal management, quantum sensing, high-power electronics, and optical applications.
title Retardance of lab grown diamond substrates as a function of thickness: momentum-drift random walk model
topic Materials Science
Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.05932