www.nanopicoftheday.org
March 30, 2004
Diamond Film Dots
Source:
Dieter M. Gruen
References:
NANOCRYSTALLINE
DIAMOND FILMS, Dieter M. Gruen, in Annual Review of Materials Science ,
Vol. 29, 1999, pp. 211-259
Description:
This silicon plate holds 40,000 diamond film dots that could be made into
diamond components for MEMS devices. Some of the dots are magnified
millions of times in the background. Gruen and his group at Argonne
National Laboratory are making gears and other objects out of diamond, the
hardest and most wear-resistant substance known. Preliminary experiments suggest
that diamond film may be 1,000 times more wear-resistant than silicon. Their
innovative approach is to grow a diamond film on a silicon-dioxide base, then
chemically remove the silicon dioxide, leaving a freestanding diamond structure.
These new diamond film crystals are 1 million times smaller than those in
conventionally grown films; their surface is so smooth they do not need to be
polished.
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