Diamond type
Diamond type is a method of scientifically classifying diamonds by the level and type of their chemical impurities. Diamonds are separated into four types: Type Ia, Type Ib, Type IIa, and Type IIb. The impurities measured are at the atomic level within the crystal lattice of carbon atoms and so, unlike inclusions, require an infrared spectrometer to detect.
Dymalloy
Similar alloys are possible with the metal phase consisting of one or more of silver, copper, gold, aluminium, magnesium, and zinc. The carbide-forming metal can be selected from titanium, zirconium, hafnium, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, and chromium, where Ti, Zr, and Hf are preferable. The amount of carbide-forming metal must be sufficient to coat at least 25% of the diamond grains, as otherwise the bonding is insufficient, the heat transfer between matrix and diamond grains is weak which leads to loss of effectivity towards the level of the matrix metal alone, and the material may deform at higher temperatures, and must be low in order to prevent formation of too thick carbide layer that would hinder heat transfer. The volume of diamond should be higher than 30 vol.%, as lower ratio does not provide significant increase of thermal conductivity, and lower than 70 vol.% as higher ratio of diamond makes thermal expansion matching to semiconductors difficult. The grains should also be completely surrounded with metal, to avoid deformation due to different thermal expansion coefficients between diamond and metal; the carbide coating assists with this.