Pulsed laser deposition on 3D substrates/amorphous diamond annealing

[454Casull]

http://www.sandia.gov/media/diamond.htm

They use PLD to deposit the amorphous diamond on a substrate, and then anneal it at high temperatures to relieve the internal stresses.

Two questions - can one use PLD on a non-flat substrate? Could the laser be routed through an optical fiber? I don't really know much about PLD.

The other question - is PLD the only way to deposit the annealable amorphous diamond? If not, then PIIP:

http://www.swri.edu/3pubs/IRD2001/18-9189.htm

looks like a good method of deposition on cylinder liners (which is, apparently, what they test in the article).

If any kind of amorphous diamond (which is synonymous with DLC, correct?) can be annealed, then that's good news, because of the high hardness, low friction, oleophilia, and - I think - sufficient high-temperature oxidation resistance.

 

[454Casull]

I've so far learned that PLD really can't be used for coating the insides of tubes, but can anybody answer my question about the annealing?