Low-temperature β-SiC interlayer for diamond film on cemented carbide

ABSTRACT

The adhesion of protective diamond films to cemented carbide substrates used in fabrication of space drilling tools can be improved by the inclusion of β-SiC interlayers. Conventional CVD methods for depositing the SiC interlayers lead to interface coarsening and heat stress resulting from high temperatures of deposition. In this work, a mid-frequency magnetron sputtering technique is used to deposit the β-SiC interlayer at lower temperatures, and the effects of deposition temperature on the microstructure and properties of the interlayer and final diamond film are assessed. The results show that the β-SiC interlayers deposited at temperatures exceeding 300°C possess high compactness and crystallinity. Increasing crystal β-SiC phase has beneficial effects on the nucleation and growth of diamond film. Based on the experimental data, a six-step reaction model is proposed to show the mechanism by which the β-SiC interlayer promotes the nucleation and growth of diamond films.

KEYWORDS:

• Diamond film
• interlayer
• β-SiC
• low-temperature deposition
• nucleation and growth

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant No. 51571183 and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China.