Polishing and sharpening of diamond point tools by ion sputter-machining

To perform fine machining of diamond by ion sputter-machining, various machining characteristics such as the sputtering yield of diamond, damage and topography of the sputter-machined diamond surface and the development of a method of prediction of the sputter-machined profile of a workpiece have been experimentally and theoretically investigated. Ion sputter-machining can be applied to the polishing of a diamond and the sharpening of diamond point tools and the sputter-machined profile generated can be predicted simply by a newly developed method