A comprehensive study of mechanical and chemo-mechanical polishing of CVD diamond

Generally growth surfaces of polycrystalline microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited (MPCVD) diamond are very rough in nature. So, it is necessary to planarize the surface in order to use them in different industrial applications. High quality polycrystalline diamond (PCD) has been grown by MPCVD process and afterwards the as grown surfaces of these diamonds were polished by mechanical and/or chemo mechanical techniques. The samples were characterized for roughness by non-contact profilometer, quality by Raman spectral analysis and surface morphology by SEM images. It is concluded that mechanical polishing alone can reduce the roughness if correct combination of abrasives are selected.