Hardness is not the only superlative property of diamond that makes it important in industry and technology--its extraordinary thermal conductivity, low-friction surface, and optical transparency put diamond into cutting-edge applications. Many new products, like compact electronic devices, windows for optical devices in demanding environments, and "no-wear" bearings, such as in the space shuttle, utilize diamond. For these applications, a synthetic form leads the way. This is CVD, so-named for the growth technique chemical vapor deposition.

At present the major commercial application for CVD diamond is in thermal management, where diamond heat-spreaders conduct byproduct heat away from a device. The material can be grown with a thermal conductivity close to that of the best natural and high-pressure synthetic diamonds used until now as heat spreaders. Thousands of suitable heat spreaders can be cut from a single wafer of CVD diamond, making for efficient use. A CVD diamond coating on an object can be polished to yield an extremely smooth diamond surface, ideal for high precision and low friction, such as is needed for precision bearings. CVD diamond wafers with high optical transparency are excellent for viewing a wide portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in environments with extreme temperature, corrosiveness, or radiation.

Photographs courtesy of ASTeX