A decade's worth of SEM-tribometric work on polycrystalline diamond films i
s reviewed. Diamond-coated Si and SiC specimens have been tested under osci
llatory sliding, at temperatures from room ambient to 1000 degrees C in (a)
similar to 1.33x10(-3) Pa (similar to 1 x 10(-5) Torr) vacuum, (b) 13-39 P
a (0.1-0.3 Torr) partial pressures of hydrogen and (c) 26 Pa (0.2 Torr) par
tial pressure of oxygen. The temperature- and atmosphere-controlled tribolo
gical behavior of the films is interpreted by the environment-dependent val
ues and trends of the average coefficient of friction. Accurate interpretat
ion of the results is assisted by similar friction and wear data on various
silicon crystallinities, complemented by applicable thermal desorption, su
rface chemical and tribometric data taken from the literature. (C) 1999 Els
evier Science S.A. All rights reserved.