Interlayers Applied to CVD Diamond Deposition on Steel Substrate: A Review

Diamond Deposition on Iron and Steel Substrates: A Review

This article presents an overview of the research in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond films on steel substrates. Since the steels are the most commonly used and cost-effective structural materials in modern industry, CVD coating diamond films on steel substrates are extremely important, combining the unique surface properties of diamond with the superior toughness and strength of the core steel substrates, and will open up many new applications in the industry. However, CVD diamond deposition on steel substrates continues to be a persistent problem. We go through the most relevant results of the last two and a half decades, including recent advances in our group. This review discusses the essential reason of the thick catalytic graphite interlayer formed on steel substrates before diamond deposition. The high carbon diffusion in iron would induce severe internal carburization, and then voluminous graphite precipitated from the substrate. In order to hinder the catalytic graphite formation, various methods have been applied for the adherent diamond film deposition, such as pre-imposed various interlayers or multi-interlayers, special controls of the deposition process, the approaches of substrate alloying and so on. We found that adherent diamond films can be directly deposited on Al alloying steel substrates, and then the role of Al alloying element was examined. That is a thin dense amorphous alumina sublayer in situ formed on the alloying substrate, which played a critical role in preventing the formation of graphite phase and consequently enhancing diamond growth and adhesion. The mechanism of Al alloying suggests that the way used to improve hot corrosion resistance is also applicable. Then, some of the hot corrosion resistance methods, such as aluminizing, siliconizing, and so on, which have been used by some researchers examining CVD diamond films on steel substrates, are reviewed. Another way is to prepare diamond-like carbon (DLC) films on steel substrates at low temperature, and then the precipitated graphite from the internal carburization can be effectively avoided. In addition, based on some new findings, the understanding of the diamond nucleation and metastable growth is discussed.

Design of Deterministic Microstructures as Substrate Pre-Treatment for CVD Diamond Coating

The coating of highly stressed components with chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond can extend their lifetime. In particular, the combination of steel substrates with diamond layers would find many applications in industrial production. However, there are some challenges, for example, the high mismatch in the thermal expansion between steel and diamond, which commonly leads to the delamination of the coating. Thus, a pre-treatment of the substrate surface is needed. Particle blasting has been established in some studies as a suitable process. However, apart from particle residues in the surface of the substrate, these surfaces have a stochastic character, which limits their reproducibility and modification options. This paper presents some instructions for the recording and derivation of defined properties of those surfaces. The conversion of characteristic surface features into quantitative process parameters could serve as the foundation for the manufacturing of deterministic microstructures, especially those produced by ultrasonic vibration superimposed machining. This should increase the reproducibility and the possibilities of the modification with regard to the structural shaping of the functional surface. The design was developed using both a kinematic surface simulation tool as well as a finite elements analysis for the cooling process of the coating–substrate–composite. A high accordance with real finished surfaces was achieved.

Sputtering Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) Coatings: A Critical Review on Process Improvement and Market Trend Demands

Physical vapour deposition (PVD) is a well-known technology that is widely used for the deposition of thin films regarding many demands, namely tribological behaviour improvement, optical enhancement, visual/esthetic upgrading, and many other fields, with a wide range of applications already being perfectly established. Machining tools are, probably, one of the most common applications of this deposition technique, sometimes used together with chemical vapour deposition (CVD) in order to increase their lifespan, decreasing friction, and improving thermal properties. However, the CVD process is carried out at higher temperatures, inducing higher stresses in the coatings and substrate, being used essentially only when the required coating needs to be deposited using this process. In order to improve this technique, several studies have been carried out optimizing the PVD technique by increasing plasma ionization, decreasing dark areas (zones where there is no deposition into the reactor), improving targets use, enhancing atomic bombardment efficiency, or even increasing the deposition rate and optimizing the selection of gases. These studies reveal a huge potential in changing parameters to improve thin film quality, increasing as well the adhesion to the substrate. However, the process of improving energy efficiency regarding the industrial context has not been studied as deeply as required. This study aims to proceed to a review regarding the improvements already studied in order to optimize the sputtering PVD process, trying to relate these improvements with the industrial requirements as a function of product development and market demand.