Effect of tungsten based coating characteristics on microstructure and thermal conductivity of diamond/Cu composites prepared by pressueless infiltration

Abstract Tungsten coatings were deposited on diamond particles by vacuum magnetron sputtering. The coated diamond particles were firstly heat treated at different temperatures, and diamond/copper (Cu) composites were fabricated by using a pressureless infiltration method afterwards. The influences of heat treatment on the microstructure and composition of tungsten based coating surface and diamond/copper composites were analysed. Notable differences were found in the microstructure with heating temperatures. Moreover, the tungsten based coating surface contained large quantities of oxidised tungsten, and the phase composition of the coatings varied within the range of tungsten–W2C–WC as the heat treatment temperature increased. The fracture surface morphologies in the copper matrix composites reinforced with diamond particles with coatings were identically characterised with the presence of ductile fracture of matrix accompanied by dissociation of diamond particles from the matrix. The thermal conductivity (TC) and gas tightness behaviours of the diamond/copper composites were also explored. A maximum TC of 768 W m−1 K−1 and a fine gas tightness of 2.5 × 10-10 Pa m3/s were obtained with reinforcement of tungsten-coated diamond particles treated at 800 °C. The value of the interface thermal resistance between copper and diamond particles was also estimated and specifically discussed.