Materials
Diamond turning is specifically useful when cutting materials that are viable as infrared optical components and certain non-linear optical components such as KDP. KDP is a perfect material in application for diamond turning, because the material is very desirable for its optical modulating properties, yet it is impossible to make optics from this material using conventional methods. KDP is water soluble, so conventional grinding and polishing techniques are not effective in producing optics. Diamond turning works well to produce optics from KDP.
Generally, diamond turning is restricted to certain materials. Materials that are readily machinable include:
- Plastics
- Acrylic
- Polycarbonate
- Nylon
- Acetal
- Polypropylene
- Polystyrene
- Zeonex
- Metals
- Aluminium alloys and purified aluminum
- Copper
- Gold
- Brass
- Electroless nickel
- Silver
- Zinc
- Tin
- Infrared crystals
- Cadmium sulfide
- Cadmium telluride
- Calcium fluoride
- Cesium iodide
- Gallium arsenide
- Germanium
- Lithium niobate
- Potassium bromide
- Silicon
- Sodium chloride
- Tellurium dioxide
- Zinc selenide
- Zinc sulfide
The most often requested materials that are not readily machinable are:
- Silicon based glasses
- Ferrous materials (Steel, Iron)
- Beryllium
- Titanium
- Molybdenum
- Nickel
Ferrous materials are not readily machinable because the carbon in the diamond tool chemically reacts with the substrate, leading to tool damage and dulling after short cut lengths. Several techniques have been investigated to prevent this reaction, but few have been successful for long diamond machining processes at mass production scales. Diamond turning is most often used in infrared wavelengths because of the materials, surface roughness, and pick distance for the tooling.
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)