Patent ID: 8490721

Claim:
A polycrystalline diamond (PCD) material comprising a body comprising at least about 88 volume percent and at most about 99 volume percent diamond grains, the mean diamond grain contiguity being greater than about 60 percent, the PCD material including a filler material comprising a ternary carbide of the formula MxM′yCz, M being at least one element selected from the group consisting of the transition metals and the rare earth metals; M′ being an element selected from the group consisting of Al, Ga, In, Ge, Sn, Pb, Tl, Mg, Zn and Cd; x being in the range from about 2.5 to about 5.0; y being in the range from about 0.5 to about 3.0; and z being in the range from about 0.1 to about 1.2.