SUPERIOR ATTACHMENT OF HIGH-QUALITY HYDROGEN-FREE AMORPHOUS DIAMOND FILMS TO SOLID MATERIALS

The attachment of high-quality amorphous diamond (a-D) coatings has be en studied with respect to the hardness of the underlying layer. A nov el intermediate-layer technique is reported that enables thick a-D coa tings to be deposited successfully on all solids at room temperature. The Figure shows an a-D film, on a 1.2 mu m layer of Al, that has crac ked but not delaminated after the silicon-wafer substrate was bent.