Chemical vapour deposition of diamond coatings onto molybdenum dental tools

The growth of polycrystalline, diamond films onto molybdenum rods and dental burrs by using a new hot filament chemical vapour deposition (CVD) system has been investigated. Negative dc bias voltage relative to the filament was applied to the molybdenum substrate prior to deposition. This led to much improved film adhesion and increased nucleation density. There was a factor of four improvement in the adhesive force from 20 to 80 N when a bias voltage of -300 V was employed to the substrate. The CVD coated molybdenum dental buff was found to give much improved performance and lifetime compared to the conventional sintered diamond buff. The CVD diamond buff showed no signs of deterioration even after 1000 operations whereas the conventional sintered diamond burrs were ineffective after between 30 and 60 operations. This represents a 30-fold improvement when CVD is applied. CVD diamond growth onto dental burrs has the potential for replacing exciting technology by achieving better performance and lifetime in a cost-effective manner.