"The sixth International Symposium on Diamond Materials was held at the 196th Meeting of the Electrochemical Society in Honolulu, Hawaii from Ooctober 17 to October 22, 1999"--Pref.

Diamond has a unique combination of properties, such as the highest hardness and thermal conductivity among any known material, high electrical resistivity, a large optical band gap and a high transmission, good resistance to chemical erosion, low adhesion and friction, and extremely low thermal expansion coefficient. As such, diamond has been a desirable material in a wide range of applications in mechanical, chemical, optical, thermal and electrical engineering. In many of the cases, the surface of a diamond component or element must have a superior finish, often down to a surface roughness of nanometers. Nevertheless, due to its extreme hardness and chemical inertness, the polishing of diamond and its composites has been a sophisticated process. Polishing of Diamond Materials will provide a state-of-the-art analysis, both theoretically and experimentally, of the most commonly used polishing techniques for mono/poly-crystalline diamond and chemical vapour deposition (CVD) diamond films, including mechanical, chemo-mechanical, thermo-chemical, high energy beam, dynamic friction and other polishing techniques. The in-depth discussions will be on the polishing mechanisms, possible modelling, material removal rate and the quality control of these techniques. A comparison of their advantages and drawbacks will be carried out to provide the reader with a useful guideline for the selection and implementation of these polishing techniques. Polishing of Diamond Materials will be of interest to researchers and engineers in hard materials and precision manufacturing, industry diamond suppliers, diamond jewellery suppliers and postgraduate students in the area of precision manufacturing.

This chapter discusses the possibilities and advantages offered by the use of diamond materials in the fabrication of microfluidic devices. The correct choice of material with optimal properties is crucial in the design of modern microfluidic devices. The different applications of diamond materials in this field are reviewed, along with a discussion of recent development and future trends.

Recent discoveries enabling the growth of crystalline diamond by chemical vapor deposition offer the potential for a wide variety of new applications. This new book examines the state of the technology arising from these discoveries in relation to other allied materials, such as high-pressure diamond and cubic boron nitride. Most of the potential defense, space, and commercial applications are related to diamond's hardness, but some utilize its other qualities, such as optical and electronic properties. The authors review growth processes and discuss techniques for characterizing the resulting materials' properties. Crystalline diamond is emphasized, but other diamond-like materials (e.g. silicon carbide and amorphous carbon containing hydrogen) are also examined. In addition, the authors identify scientific, technical, and economic problems that could impede the rapid exploitation of these materials, and present recommendations covering broad areas of research and development.

This volume addresses the burgeoning field of wide band gap materials. The 64 contributed and invited papers will do much to stimulate the well-justified ongoing work, both theoretical and experimental, in this area. The high standard of the papers attests to the significant progress that has been made in this field, as well as reporting on the challenging problems that still remain to be solved.

This is the first comprehensive book on the engineering of diamond optical devices. Written by 39 experts in the field, it gives readers an up-to-date review of the properties of optical quality synthetic diamond (single crystal and nanodiamond) and the nascent field of diamond optical device engineering. Application areas covered in detail in this book include quantum information processing, high performance lasers and light sources, and bioimaging. It provides scientists, engineers and physicists with a valuable and practical resource for the design and development of diamond-based optical devices.