Science creates bigger and more quality diamonds

If you think that the stone on the ring is big and gorgeous, the diamonds processed in the laboratory by the new method will overwhelm you.

Diamonds, a special form of pure carbon, are used of course not just to make jewelry more sparkling. It is also used to make scalpels, electronic parts and even quantum computers.

But the perfect properties for diamond applications - such as hardness (diamond is the hardest mineral in nature), optical properties as well as tolerance to chemicals, radiation and electric fields - making it very difficult to study and apply.

The defects of diamond can be removed by heating process called heat treatment, but this process can turn diamond into graphite, another type of carbon, very soft shape, there are Gray is used as lead gut.

To avoid the process of graphiteization, the former method of treating diamonds requires maintaining high pressure (about 60,000 times atmospheric pressure, equivalent to sea pressure) during the heat treatment process, but too Such high-pressure heat treatment process with high temperature is expensive and limits the size and amount of diamond processed.

A group of Carnegie Institute scientists in Washington, DC recently found a way to solve this problem to create bigger and better diamonds.

The diamonds grow bigger

They use a method called chemical vapor deposition to make larger synthetic diamonds. Unlike diamond-forming methods that use high pressure equivalent to deep pressure in the Earth's heart where natural diamonds are formed, the CVD process produces single-crystal diamonds at low temperatures. They are formed quickly and only have relatively few defects.

Carnegie group can take artificial diamonds to remove heat at temperatures as high as 3,632 degrees Fahrenheit (about 2,000 degrees Celsius) with pressure below atmospheric pressure. The heat treatment process turns diamond crystals, originally from brownish yellow to colorless or pinkish. The process also minimizes the phenomenon of graphiteization.

The team member, Chih-shiue Yan, said: 'It's amazing to see brown CVD diamonds turning color into transparent pinkish crystals with a cost-effective method.'

Researchers also discovered that the cause of diamonds is light pink. Quiz is because a nitrogen atom has replaced the position of a carbon atom at a certain position in the crystal structure. According to Yan, this finding 'could help the gem industry to distinguish natural diamonds and artificial diamonds'.

The new discovery is detailed in the October 27 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and has helped researchers create larger diamonds.

Ho-kwang Mao, a member of the research team, said: 'The most interesting thing about this new heat treatment process is that the unlimited size of the crystals can be processed. The breakthrough will allow us to create kilocara-heavy diamonds with high optical qualities. '

Hope diamond weighs only 45.52 carats.

Such diamonds are created in the laboratory by the chemical vapor deposition process which is treated with high temperature, low pressure to enhance color as well as optical clarity.(Photo: Carnegie Science Institute)