Sharpening of the diamond tool edge by the Ar ion beam machine tool

Sharpening of the edge on the single crystal diamond cutting tool by Ar ion beam machine tool is discussed. The cutting edge of the diamond tool can be sharpened by the ion plasma because an etching rate is changed by changing the beam irradiation angle on the machining surface. Machining experiments were carried out to observe the effect of the beam irradiation direction on etching characteristics. In these experiments, a single point flat tool is fabricated to the micro scale structure by Focused Ion Beam (FIB) machine tool on its cutting edge to make the edge roundness artificially. Then, the argon ion beam produced by the penning ion sources irradiated on the rounded edge in various direction. In machining tests, it was observed that the shape of edge was not only sharpened, but also made to be the flat as the new rake face on its rounded face by specific inclination of the beam irradiation. Based on this result, the machining was performed by changing the beam irradiation direction additionally. As the result, it is observed that the new flat face is fabricated according to the intended direction.