Study of diamond adhesion behavior on chromium and titanium for obtaining adherent diamond coatings on steel

It is known that diamond films display poor adhesion on metals such as copper and steel. One solution to overcome the poor adhesion is to use interlayer materials. In this study we report results of an investigation of the adhesion behavior of diamond on pure chromium (Cr) and titanium (Ti) substrates. Cr and Ti are promising interlayer materials for adhering diamond to stainless steel. The coating adhesion was studied using indentation tests combined with acoustic emission signals during loading. It was found that a 105-N load indentation caused the film to delaminate from the Cr substrate, while the diamond film remained attached to the titanium even after the indentation at 180 N. Micro-Raman spectroscopy was used to monitor the film stress. The diamond films grown on Ti substrates were found to be less stressed than the films grown on Cr substrates. Therefore, Ti was used in thin-film form to obtain adherent diamond coatings on steel.