Study on mechanical polishing for CVD diamond films of forming nucleus surface and growing surface

In the present work, high power DC arc plasma jet chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is used to prepare diamond films with full width half magnitude (FWHM) less than 10 wave numbers at 1332 cm(-1) Raman peak. During the polishing process, diamond film is hold against the stainless steel holder, which rotates and swings when the sample comes into contact with the cast-iron plate. Average surface roughness of the forming nucleus polished surface and growing polished surface is 560nm, 90nm respectively. And the materials removal rate is quite different. Fine crystal grain of the forming nucleus surface and the thick column crystal of growing surface are dominant in structure. In the meantime, effects of the size of the abrasive power, the applied force and polishing direction are also discussed. A profilometer, an Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and a scanning electron microscope have been used to evaluate the surface states of diamond films before and after polishing. This result reveals an. improvement of polishing efficiency and a great potential for commercial application.