Patent ID: 8858871

Claim:
A process, comprising: forming an enriched block of dense material by: bringing a first contact surface of a block of dense material into contact with a second contact surface of an imbibition block, the imbibition block formed of an imbibiting material, wherein an area of the first contact surface of the dense material block is larger than an area of the second contact surface of the imbibition block; and subjecting the dense material block and imbibition block to a first thermal cycle, constituted by heating, temperature maintenance and cooling, which brings at least some of the imbibiting material into the liquid state for migration through an imbibition area where the second contact surface meets the first contact surface for local and gradual enrichment of the dense material block with the imbibiting material defining an imbibiting material gradient extending in the enriched dense material block in all directions from a core region corresponding to the area of the second contact surface; stacking a thermally stable diamond table body on the enriched block of dense material at an interface which includes a bottom surface of the thermally stable diamond table body in contact with the first contact surface of the enriched dense material block; and subjecting the stack of thermally stable diamond table body and enriched dense material block to a second thermal cycle, constituted by heating, temperature maintenance and cooling, which brings at least some of the imbibiting material within the enriched dense material block into the liquid state for migration from the enriched dense material block into the thermally stable diamond table body through the interface so as to join the thermally stable diamond table body to the enriched dense material block.