  The chemical nature of the chemical mechanical polishing of diamond has been
examined by adding various redox agents to the alkaline SF1 polishing slurry.
Three oxidizing agents namely, hydrogen peroxide, potassium permanganate and
ferric nitrate, and two reducing agents, oxalic acid and sodium thiosulfate,
were added to the SF1 slurry. Oxalic acid produced the fastest polishing rate
while hydrogen peroxide had very little effect on polishing, probably due to
its volatile nature. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveals little
difference in the surface oxygen content on the polished samples using various
slurries. This suggests that the addition of redox agents do not increase the
density of oxygen containing species on the surface but accelerates the process
of attachment and removal of Si or O atoms within the slurry particles to the
diamond surface.
