Many substrates are not amenable to diamond coating because the correct processing technologies require operation at elevated pressures and temperatures which can be deleterious to the substrate. This project will utilize a unique pulsed fast atom source to develop diamond coatings on substrates held at low temperatures. The fast beam can provide high concentrations of C and H atoms in the same ratio as utilized in PCVD processes but at very high velocities. Upon impact the high velocity, short duration ( 30 s) beam will transfer energy to the surface, heating a microlayer to elevated temperatures and/or enabling chemical barriers to diamond film growth to be surmounted. This approach avoids the requirements of bulk substrate heating. The Phase I effort will be directed towards a laboratory demonstration for the potential of using our fast beam technology for diamond coating of low temperature substrates. The successful completion of the Phase I effort will allow the utilization of diamond films on advanced substrates which would be affected adversely by the environmental conditions required in extant diamond coating processes.
