Pulsed electrical field assisted or spark plasma sintered polycrystalline ultra hard material and thermally stable ultra hard material cutting elements and compacts and methods of forming the same

A method of forming a polycrystalline diamond material comprising:

• placing a mixture of diamond particles into an enclosure;
• placing the enclosure into a press cell assembly having a heater;
• applying a repeated high-energy pulse to the heater to heat the diamond particles;
• and
• pressing the enclosure at sufficient pressure to form a polycrystalline diamond material, while applying said repeated high energy pulse, wherein pressing the enclosure at sufficient pressure comprises applying a pressure between about 5 to 7 GPa,
• wherein applying the repeated high-energy pulse comprises heating the enclosure to a temperature in a range of about 1,050° C. to about 2,000° C.

A method of forming a polycrystalline ultra-hard material comprising:

• placing a mixture of ultra-hard particles into an enclosure;
• placing the enclosure into a press cell assembly having a heater;
• applying a repeated high-energy pulse to the heater to heat the ultra-hard particles;
• and
• pressing the enclosure at sufficient pressure to form a polycrystalline ultra-hard material, wherein pressing the enclosure at sufficient pressure comprises applying a pressure between about 5 to 7 GPa, wherein the high-energy pulse comprises alternating current,
• wherein applying the repeated high-energy pulse comprises heating the enclosure to a temperature in a range of about 1,050° C. to about 2,000° C.