Diamond: Synthesis, Characterisation and Applications

In this chapter we review some aspects of the synthesis and characterisation of chemical vapor deposited diamond. Chemical Vapor Deposited (CVD) diamond is arguably the first of the “new” carbon materials that has received extensive research attention due to its potential industrial applications. Intense research activities on CVD diamond that spanned over 30 years brought much progress in understanding and techniques on the synthesis and laboratory demonstration of applications. However, industrial scale applications are still elusive, mainly due to the many technical hurdles that must be overcome in order to fully benefit from the wonderful properties of diamond. Although CVD diamond has been superseded by fullerene in the 1990s, later carbon nanotubes and more recently the emergence of graphene, it is worth looking at this fascinating form of synthetic diamond which may yet make a comeback in years to come. Attention was given to the established techniques for the synthesis and characterisation of CVD diamond as well as issues related to the challenges of industrial applications of CVD diamond.