Self-Supporting Nanocrystalline Diamond Foils – A New Concept for Crystalline Diamond on any Technical Surface

The manufacturing and application of self-supporting nanocrystalline diamond foils is introduced. The high temperature manufacturing of nanocrystalline diamond foils by hot-filament chemical vapour deposition (HFCVD) is separated from the low temperature application, allowing the coating of temperature sensitive materials, which cannot be coated by HFCVD conventionally. By coating appropriate template materials and stripping-off after the CVD-process, self-supporting, flexible nanocrystalline diamond foils with high hardness (> 70 GPa) and very low thermal conductivity (< 1 W/mK) with thicknesses of up to 100 µm can be produced. Lasercutting is an appropriate method for machining any desired geometry. Thus the possibility to use the extreme properties of diamond for protection against friction and wear on new substrate materials, e.g. steels, light metals and polymers, is generated.