Structure and physico-mechanical properties of CVD diamonds of various crystalline perfections in the hybridite material

A comparison study has been conducted of the substructure of samples of CVD diamonds of various crystalline perfections in the hybridite material produced at high pressures and temperatures. The material thermostability and hardness variation as a result of the formation of a polycrystalline shell of diamond thermostable composite material around a CVD diamond at high pressure and temperature have been examined. Based on the data obtained on the efficiency of tools from hybridite with CVD diamonds of various structural perfections, the most efficient applications of tools have been recommended.     

New superhard material for drilling tools

The authors discuss physical-mechanical properties of a new thermostable polycrystalline diamond composite material and its potential use in rock-destruction tools for drilling wells in hard rock. The paper presents the results of investigation aimed at clarifying the effect of dimensions of inserts made of this new material on the drilling tool performance. An optimal size of inserts to be set in the bit face has been established which improves hard rock drilling efficiency in comparison to conventional tools.     

Diamond polycrystalline composite material with dispersion-hardened nickel-based additive

A diamond polycrystalline composite material with improved physico-mechanical characteristics has been obtained at high pressure and temperature using nickel and cobalt powders and tungsten carbide nanopowder as sintering aids. Samples of this material reinforced with CVD polycrystalline diamond at high pressure and temperature have been manufactured.     

Hardness of single-crystal CVD diamond and phase transformations in it on indentation

Hardness of single-crystal CVD diamond placed into a shell of a diamond composite thermostable material produced at high pressures and temperatures as well as structural variations in diamond during indentation have been studied.     

Surface acoustic wave properties of freestanding diamond films

"Ideal" diamond has the highest acoustic velocity of any material known, and is of great interest as a substrate material for high frequency surface acoustic wave (SAW) device structures. However, little is known of the acoustic wave propagation properties of polycrystalline diamond grown by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) techniques, the commercially accessible form of this material. We report on propagation of laser-generated SAW on three forms of freestanding CVD diamond samples, "white" polycrystalline, "black" polycrystalline, and "highly oriented" diamond. Despite differing sample nature, SAW waves propagating along the smooth (nucleation) side of the diamond showed similar velocities in the range 10600-11900 ms(-1). These results are discussed in terms of the potential of each form of CVD diamond for SAW device fabrication.     

Growth, processing and properties of CVD diamond for optical applications

In recent years there has been an increased need for optical materials for use in adverse chemical, thermal, abrasive, and/or radiation environments. Diamond is a natural candidate for many of these applications because of its radiation hardness, superb resistance to chemical attack and abrasive wear, high thermal conductivity, and low absorption coefficient throughout the visible and much of the infrared. The use of synthetic (high pressure-high temperature) and natural diamond in optical components has been limited by the size and shapesof available crystals, and the inability to coat optical elements. The chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of polycrystalline diamond does not suffer the same limitations, and is therefore the focus of an expanding worldwide research effort. CVD diamond is not without its own shortcomings, however, and in this paper a status report is given on the obstacles and current research related to using CVD diamond as an optical material. Natural diamond's relevant physical properties and the optical applications envisioned for CVD diamond are also discussed.     

Polishing of polycrystalline diamond by hot nickel surface

A microwave plasma technique has been employed to deposit polycrystalline diamond film over a molybdenum substrate button using a gas mixture of hydrogen and methane at a substrate temperature of 851°C. A CVD diamond coated molybdenum substrate button was mounted with a load against hot nickel plate and rotated for 3.45 h in a hydrogen ambient. Hot tungsten filament was used as a heat source to maintain the temperature of the nickel block and CVD diamond coated molybdenum button at 848°C. This experiment has reproducibly shown the successful polishing of polycrystalline CVD diamond by hot nickel. A Tencor profilometer and scanning electron microscope have been used to evaluate the surface smoothness and morphology before and after polishing the polycrystalline diamond thin films.     

CVD金刚石材料在高性能刀具上的应用

介绍了在激发氢气和碳氢混合气体的“活化”发光状态下使金刚石沉积的CVD金刚石制造工艺原理和“厚膜”CVD金刚石的新工艺。由于CVD金刚石的聚晶结构使其具有超过天然金刚石断裂韧性的优异特点,因此可作为切削刀具材料使用。介绍了其在高性能切削刀具和修整刀具上的实际应用情况。     

Development and application of CVD diamond detectors to 14 MeV neutron flux monitoring

CVD diamond is an interesting material for radiation detection, its atomic number (Z = 6) is close to that of soft tissues (Z = 7.1) and it can also work in harsh environments. Since many years CVD diamond films have been grown at the Faculty of Engineering, Rome 'Tor Vergata' University, and in 1998 a collaboration with ENEA Fusion Division was established to develop fast neutron monitors to be used in fusion tokamak environment. In this paper the first test of a 120 microm thick polycrystalline CVD diamond detector used for monitoring 14.7 MeV neutrons emission produced with the Frascati Neutron Generator (FNG) is reported. The detector operates in air and in pulse mode. The time irradiation profiles recorded with the CVD diamond detector were compared with those recorded by the standard monitors available at FNG (SSD, fission chamber, NE-213). Good stability and capability to operate in neutron flux up to 1.5 x 10(8) n cm(-2) s(-1) was observed. The radiation hardness property was also investigated using a 460 microm thick film and these results are also reported.     

Dry machining of silicon-aluminium alloys with CVD diamond brazed and directly coated Si3N4 ceramic tools

Silicon-aluminium alloys (Al-Si), with Si contents up to 20%, are important materials in automotive and aeronautical industries due to their low density and high wear resistance. The turning of these alloys has been done mainly by superhard tools like polycrystalline diamond (PCD). CVD diamond either as thin coatings on silicon nitride ceramics or as thick brazed tips on hard metals is alternative material. In this work, CVD diamond thin films were grown on Si₃N₄ ceramic substrates and thick CVD diamond plates were brazed onto WC-Co tools. These different inserts were used in dry turning of silicon-aluminium alloys with 12 wt% and 18 wt% Si. Both directly diamond coated and brazed tools are able to machine the Al-12 wt% Si alloy with negligible wear. In turning of Al-18 wt% Si, sharp edged tools yield lower cutting forces than the chamfered ones, with the occurrence of tool failure at about 500 and 100 m, respectively. CVD brazed tools proved to be able for dry turning this hypereutectic alloy, keeping the cutting forces below 60 N. Minimal wear was observed after 1500 m of cutting length, mainly caused by diamond chipping at the flank face.     

Machining MMC engineering components with polycrystalline diamond and diamond grinding

Abstract

The high specific strength of metal matrix composite (MMC) materials is derived from the combined effects of light, ductile and hard, brittle materials being incorporated in a matrix composite. The hard, brittle phase in this composite can cause problems when machining such materials. The most commonly encountered problems are those involved in producing an acceptable surface finish, avoiding very rapid tool wear and achieving acceptable machining costs, through the use of higher machining speeds. However, in order for MMC materials to be widely accepted into the mainstream automotive, aerospace, and mechanical engineering industries, cost effective machining solutions will be required. Increasingly, machining with polycrystalline diamond (PCD) and grinding with diamond abrasives (two examples of ultra hard materials) are being utilised as the most effective machining methods in the manufacture of MMC components. The present paper explores the inherent problems involved in the machining of MMCs and the suitability of ultrahard tooling technology in overcoming many of these problems. The importance of PCD grade selection and optimised machining conditions are particularly important when machining MMCs, and these are reviewed in detail. The versatility of PCD for use in practically all metal cutting operations is also illustrated. The paper concludes with a number of case studies demonstrating how ultrahard tooling technology has been applied to produce economically a wide range of engineered MMC components in the automotive, aerospace, and mechanical engineering industries.     

Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) diamond coated tools performance in machining of PEEK composites

This paper presents a study about the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) diamond coated tool performance in machining unreinforced PEEK and composite PEEK CF30 (reinforced with 30% of carbon fibres).

The experimental procedure consisted of turning operations, during which cutting forces and surface roughness obtained in composite workpieces were measured.

The obtained results showed a best cutting performance for CVD diamond coated tool in machining PEEK composites, particularly in terms of cutting forces and power consumption, when compared with polycrystalline diamond (PCD) and cemented carbide (K10) cutting tools. This fact is very important due to the minor production costs of CVD diamond coated tools in comparison with PCD tools.     

CVD金刚石薄膜抛光技术的研究进展

采用化学气相沉积 (CVD)方法在非金刚石衬底上沉积的金刚石薄膜 ,本质上为多晶 ,而且表面粗糙。然而 ,在金刚石薄膜的许多重要应用领域 ,如光学和电子学 ,都要求金刚石薄膜具有光滑表面 ,以便器件的制备或后续加工。本文论述了目前国际上出现的抛光CVD金刚石薄膜的主要方法 ,包括机械抛光法、热 化学抛光法、化学 机械抛光法、等离子体 /离子束抛光法以及激光抛光法等 ,深入分析了这些抛光方法的优点和不足 ,指出了今后需要重点解决的问题。最后 ,展望了CVD金刚石薄膜抛光技术的发展趋势     

复合抛光对 CVD金刚石薄膜表面光洁度的改进研究

采用激光抛光和热化学抛光相结合的方法，对通过热丝CVD方法生长的金刚石薄膜进行了复合抛光处理．并利用X射线衍射仪（XRD）、拉曼光谱仪（Raman）、扫描电子显微镜（SEM）和原子力显微镜（AFM）对金刚石薄膜进行了表征．结果表明，所合成的金刚石薄膜是高质量的多晶（111）取向膜；经复合抛光后，金刚石薄膜的结构没有因抛光而发生改变，金刚石薄膜的表面粗糙度明显降低，光洁度大幅度提高，表面粗糙度Ra在100nm左右，基本可以达到应用的要求．     

Differential pulse voltammetry of toxic metal ions at the boron-doped CVD diamond electrode

Boron-doped polycrystalline diamond films were grown over a molybdenum substrate by a microwave plasma CVD process using a methane and hydrogen gas mixture at a pressure of 35 ± 1 Torr. Boron doping of diamond was achieved in situ by using a solid boron source while growing diamond in the CVD processxu. We have observed a negligible background current (l) for diamond by differential pulse voltammetry in 0.5 M NaCl, 0.5 M H₂SO₄, and 0.5 M HNO₃ solutions over a wide potential range. Therefore, diamond will certainly have a use as an electrode material in electroanalytical applications to detect trace toxic/nontoxic metal ions such as cadmium, lead, copper, and silver. Differential pulse voltammetry was used to detect and evaluate the presence of lead ions in 0.5 M NaCl and cadmium ions in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ supporting electrolyte solution using highly conducting boron-doped diamond coated molybdenum electrode material. Furthermore, reverse differential pulse voltammetry was used to evaluate the presence of copper and silver ions in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ and 0.5 M HNO₃ solution, respectively. Diamond electrode has been used in this study to detect metallic ions in the solution over a wide potential range that covers + 0.8 V to –0.4 V vs., SHE.     

Synthetic single-crystal, homoepitaxially grown, CVD diamond capacitor

Homoepitaxially grown diamond film capacitor has been fabricated and tested for capacitance characteristics. Type IIa diamond was chosen for carbon ion implantation and subsequently microwave plasma CVD diamond was grown. CVD diamond film was separated from the base type IIa diamond substrate by using electrochemical bias. The separated CVD diamond film was annealed at 450°C for 2 h and metallized the film using a d.c. magnetron sputtering technique. The observed capacitance of the fabricated device is of the order of picofarads, close to the expected value of the capacitance. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Diamond layers grown by chemical vapor deposition on NbN systems and NbN/SiO2-based devices

Deposits of individual diamond grains and continuous polycrystalline diamond layers have been generated by means of a HFCVD technique onto different types of untreated or seeded NbN surfaces. To test the feasibility of using diamond layers as protective coatings for aerospace applications, we carried out diamond deposition onto the lithographically defined NbN microelectrodes of a NbN/SiO2 multifinger device. The morphological and structural features of the diamond deposits and of the substrates were characterized by FE-SEM, XRD and Raman spectroscopy. The preferential growth of diamond on the superconductive NbN enables the selective coating of the NbN microstripes sputtered on the insulating SiO2. Moreover the diamond coating procedure is able to preserve the structural integrity of the substrate material and to retain the shaped architecture of the device. For the polycrystalline diamond layers grown on NbN a residual stress of -9.8 GPa, largely due to thermal stress, has been estimated by Raman analysis. The diamond coatings of the NbN-based architectures result to be mechanically stable.     

Structure of diamond polycrystalline films deposited on silicon substrates

The article presents results of structural studies of polycrystalline diamond thin films deposited by hot filament CVD on silicon substrates. The films were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Raman Spectroscopy (RS), Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS). Both the EBSD patterns and Raman spectra confirm that the grains visible in the electron micrographs are diamond micro-crystallites. The residual stress in the films is found to be in the range between −4.29 GPa and −0.56 GPa depending on the sample thickness. No evidence of lonsdalite and graphite has been registered in the polycrystalline material of the investigated samples. Evidence of the existence of silicon carbide at the diamond/silicon interface is presented. It is also suggested that an amorphous carbonaceous film covers the silicon surface in the regions of holes in the thin diamond layers.     

Electrical properties of diamond films grown at low temperature

The unique electronic properties of diamond, associated with the emergence of chemical vapour deposition (CVD) methods for the growth of thin films on non-diamond substrates, have led to considerable interest in electronic devices fabricated from this material. In our previous work, we found that polycrystalline diamond films can be deposited at 250 °C using CH₄---CO₂ gas mixtures. Studying the electrical properties and the upcoming problems of applications of low-temperature diamond films are relevant concerns.

In this work, the electrical properties of diamond films grown at low temperatures were studied and compared with those of conventional diamond films. Platinum was used as the upper electrode. The resistivity of low-temperature diamond was around three orders of magnititude lower than that of conventional diamond. However, both the low temperature and conventional growth diamond exihibited rectifying behavior when platinum was used as the upper electrode.     

Broad band photoluminescence studies of diamond layers grown by hot-filament CVD

Photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopy were employed to investigate the broad band luminescence in thin diamond films grown on a silicon substrate by the HF CVD technique. The broad band luminescence with a maximum emission at 1.8–2 eV observed for CVD diamonds is characteristic for amorphous carbon with sp²-hybridized carbon bonds. As was shown by the Raman spectroscopy our diamond layer contained certain amounts of amorphous carbon phase and diamond nanocrystals which were the source of an additional energy state within the diamond energy gap. The experimental results precluded the possibility of broad band luminescence being due to the electron–lattice interaction. The amorphous carbon and diamond nanocrystals admixture in polycrystalline diamond layer introduced a defect state in the energy gap not in the form of point defects but rather in the form of a line or extended defects. In consequence these extended defects were responsible for the broad PL spectrum in the CVD diamond films.