Cutting of Diamond

Abstract

For a number of years, diamond has been used as a material for cutting tools. Since conventional machining of diamond is difficult and expensive, laser cutting is considered a promising technology for future production of diamond-cutting tools. Experiments with nanosecond-lasers showed a tendency to crack formation in the material, especially in monocrystalline diamond. With femtosecond laser pulses it is possible to avoid the cracks. The roughness of the laser cut surface is better than the surface produced by EDM, but inferior to a polished one. The cutting speed with available laser systems is, however, low compared to conventional techniques.