Handbook of Industrial Diamonds

Diamond possesses many extreme properties that can be exploited for dream applications. Among these applications are superabrasives, super heat spreaders, super accoustic resonators, super LED, super solar cells, super integrated circuits, super gene chips, super radomes, etc. Diamond grits and their sintering products have been extensively used in the mechanical industry (1000 tons or USD1 billion annually). On the other hand, diamond films are emerging as preferred materials for many industrial, consumer, milltary and educational products. This book provides a perspective view of industrial diamonds for existing and futuristic applications. The contents also include the science of superhard materials, for example, the principles for designing an ultrahard material that is much harder than even diamond. The book also provides detailed accounts of many synthesis processes, including ultrahigh pressure technologies and chemical vapor depositions. Superabrasives include industrial diamonds and cubic boron nitrde products. They are indispensible for removing materials that are critical for many segments of manufacturing industry. Diamond saw grits are used for cutting construcive materials such as concrete (e.g. cemant and asphalt) and rocks (e.g. granite and marble). Diamond grinding wheels are precision tools for shaping ceramics, glass, non-ferrous metals (e.g. aluminium and copper alloys), polymers (e.g. polycarbonate)and more. Diamond micron fines are critical for polishing super smooth surfaces, such as computer hard drives, optical lenses, and LED substrates. Sintered diamond microns are known as PCD (polycrystalline diamond) that is consumed for petroleum drill bits, precision cutting tools, and wire drawing dies. Although diamond's hardness is second to none, it cannot effectively maching steel products due to the dissolution of carbon in iron. Thus, cubic boron nitride, the second hardness material, is used for grinding and cutting stainless steels and super alloys. Sintered polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PcBN)is widely used for making crank shafts of automobiles.