Abstract:
This research describes an enhanced characterization technique for studying diamond production by hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) on cemented carbide (WC -Co) SPUN inserts. The characteristics of dia-mond (Dia.) and tantalum (Ta) seeded powders used as seeding materials were determined using a variety of microscopic characterizations. Topographic and cross-sectional pictures obtained using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), respectively, demonstrate that the Ta-seeded substrate had a higher nucleation density, whereas the Dia.-seeded substrate had thicker coatings. Findings from atomic force microscopy (AFM) show that Ta-seeded substrates' mechanical strength is expectedly higher due to the smaller grains and higher apparent density. According to the X-ray diffraction (XRD) results, the Dia. -seeded substrate displayed a lower dislocation density, strain, and Burgers' vector magnitude. The highly crystalline structure of the Ta-seeded sample appeared in the Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) selected area electron diffraction (SAED) im-ages. However, the multi-gradient sample structure of the Dia.-seeded Sample obtained increased its ductility property. The nanoindentation results demonstrated that the Ta-seeded substrate had a higher hardness while the Dia.-seeded substrate had a higher Stiffness and Youngs' modulus value. The findings are crucial for present-day CVD applications since Ta powders offer an alternative option to diamond powders.