| Abstract: | The deposition of high-quality diamond films and their adhesion on cemented carbides are strongly influenced by the catalytic effect of cobalt under typical deposition conditions.Decreasing Co content on the surface of the cemented carbide is often used for the diamond filmdeposition. But the leaching of Co from the WC-Co substrate leading to a mechanical weak surface often causes a poor adhesion. In this paper we adopted an implant copper layer preparedby vaporization to improve the mechanical properties of the Co-leached substrate. The diamondfilms were grown by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition from CH4 :H2 gas mixture. Thecross section and the morphology of the diamond film were characterized by scanning electronmicroscopy (SEM). The non-diamond content in the film was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy.The effects of pretreatment on the concentrations of Co and Cu near the interfacial region wereexamined by energy dispersive spectrum (EDS) equipped with SEM. The adhesion of the diamondon the substrate was evaluated with a Rockwell-type hardness tester. The results indicate that thediamond films prepared with implant copper layer have a good adhesion to the cemented carbidesubstrate due to the recovery of the mechanical properties of the Co-depleted substrate after thecopper implantation and the formation of less amorphous carbon between the substrate and thediamond film. |
