The Dawn of Diamond Age
James Chien-Min Sung
Kinik Company, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
Diamond
is the miracle substance that excels all other materials in many extreme properties.
Currently industrial diamonds are limited by size and geometry, so they are
serving primarily in mechanical industry as superabrasives (e.g., for grinding
wheels). But with the availability
of large sized diamond films and complicated DLC coatings many functional
applications of diamond are either commercially available or to be debut. Thus, diamonds are the key component for tribological
surfaces (e.g., bearing linings), electro-optical devices (e.g., field emitters),
semiconductors (e.g., electrodes), thermal management (e.g., heat spreaders),
optical gates (e.g., X-ray windows), acoustic vibrators (e.g., SAW filters),
dialectical medium (e.g., capacitor interlayer), medical implants (e.g., hip
joints), nuclear detectors (particle sensors), military weaponries (e.g.,
missile radomes), chemical barrier (e.g., acid container) and consumer products
(e.g., razor blades), to name just a few. When many of these exotic diamond applications become routine, human’s
materials civilization will reach the climax—diamond age. As there is no other material that can be more
versatile than diamond, diamond will eventually become forever.
Key Words: Diamond, Diamond Applications, Diamond Age