New Synthetic Diamonds

by the way, diamonds are not rare at all, that's just something DeBeers want people to believe. their prices are artificially high... about time this monopoly crumbles

i actually happen to know a girl who works for one of these synthetic diamond companies -- the one operating out of massachusetts -- and they're having a heck of a time ramping up production on those things. it's a neat process, and the end product's great, but it's not an easy thing to make in bulk quantities yet; it might be another decade or so, she says, before they can mass-produce them at any appreciable level.

i want a diamond-case apple laptop in another decade, though; a world of super-cheap diamond (which is gonna be possible in another 20 years, maybe sooner, maybe later) is going to be absolutely amazing...just think of when clear white diamond's not much more expensive than glass.

edit:

yeah, you can make semiconductors out of diamond, i'm pretty sure, but i think the advantage isn't speed; it's that you can run them hotter than you can run silicon. net result would be more durable computers, but not necessarily faster; i can check with my contact if you'd like.

[edit on 30-11-2004 by sisonek]

To get any decent production, those companies that make the diamonds will need a slew of CVD tools for production. They are quite finicky and prone to problems with the gas, maintaining pressure, maintaining temperature, and RF stability for a good plasma reaction. A typical CVD tool requires frequent cleaning between deposition cycles because of buildup of unused residue on the chamber surfaces. Its no problem to clean most materials, but I'm not sure what you would use to clean diamond residue buildup.

Someone asked what the plasma was for, and its just the by-product of the excited atoms within the powerful RF field, they give off light when they reach a high enough energy state. Kind of looks like a black light is on when looking through the window of my tools. Atoms in this state will begin to bond together, and preferably you want them to bond at the substrate and not above it in the air or it will rain micro-diamonds in this case.

A cell phone is not allowed near these fields because it can disturb the field and cause the tool to stop or screw up your deposition process. To the guy who has a friend at one of the factories, tell them no cell phones near an RF plasma CVD tool, they don't like the signal noise.

I'm all for synthetic diamond production. I didn't even want a diamond in my engagement ring because of the high chance mine would have been a blood diamond. Heck, you can even have the remains of a loved one made into one: LifeGem

[edit on 30-11-2004 by Hecate100]

Originally posted by superstring

Originally posted by Simulacra
Well these new synthetic diamonds are yellow diamonds which are rarer than the popular 'white diamonds'.....


[edit on 11/28/2004 by Simulacra]

Are you saying that natural yellow diamonds are rarer then white diamonds.

I hate one liners but. Yes. It was mentioned before on this thread. Yellow diamonds are a result of a nitrogen enriched enviornment.

using these same diamonds to make synthetic main springs and watch gears because of their heat and cold tolerances as well. U. Nardin is the first to put them in a production watch, Breguet and Patek will soon follow. They will perform as well as quartz watches with these new parts.

Originally posted by ShadowXIX
I hope these new diamonds destroy DeBeers they arleady have taken steps to engrave their real diamonds with lasers to prove they are real. But I dont think people really will like to have their flawless diamonds carved up with a laser.



Actually laser inscripton on high quality genuine diamonds is not noticible. It iis so small that you are unable to see it with out a loupe. Even then it is difficult to read. It would come in handy if your diamond was stolen.


No, diamonds in general are not as rare as some retailers would have you believe. However perfect fiamonds are.

Originally posted by Tomashi
synthetic diamonds are the reason why proper certification has become more & more important for the industry. people who spend money on gems don't want man-made ones, they want the real stuff. By the way, natural diamonds come in many colours (pink, green, yellow, whatever). Yellow diamonds are indeed a result of nitrogen.
Because these "fancy color" diamonds became so popular, tricks were developed to color gems artificially (they're much less valuable though, expert know tricks to see the diff). Synthetics are widely used in many industries (medical to aerospace), due to their extreme purity and their optical and thermal qualities - they're actually much more perfect than natural ones. But they're very unlikely to become competition for the jewellery business...

Wow, do you live in the diamond district of NY? Spoken like a true DeBeers made man.

This showed up in March of this year.

Superconducting Diamonds
physicsweb.org...