Abstract
New chemical processes for etching diamond have been explored in order to find economical methods to shape and polish chemical vapor deposition diamond for optical applications. Chemical reagents with the potential for oxidizing or dissolving carbon were evaluated by contacting the reagent with diamond surfaces at 500–1000°C. Molten lanthanum-nickel eutectic (melting point 480°C) in bulk form exhibits a high activity for etching diamond. Etch rates of 78, 113, and 215 μm h -1 were observed at 700, 800 and 900°C respectively. Although fast, the etching process can be non-uniform. The metals iron, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and palladium were found to etch diamond at 1–5 μm h -1 at 900–1000°C, while other metals and metal oxides gave little or no etching of diamond.
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