Scientists have developed a new method that allows diamonds to be created in the laboratory at normal atmospheric pressure and in 15 minutes without the necessary foundation to begin the creation process.
Natural diamonds form in the mantle, a molten zone hundreds of miles below the Earth’s surface. This process of diamond formation takes place under extreme pressures of several GigaPascals and extreme temperatures (1500 degrees Celsius).
Applying similar conditions, 99% of synthetic diamonds are made by the process currently in use. In this method, called high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT) growth, carbon is dissolved in liquid metals such as steel using intense settings to transform the alloy into diamond around a tiny seed.
(Photo: Institute for Basic Science)
However, creating and maintaining extreme pressures and temperatures is a difficult process. Furthermore, the ingredients involved in the process affect the size of the diamonds, causing the largest diamond to be about one cubic centimeter in size, the size of a blueberry.
This new technique eliminates defects in the diamond manufacturing process. However, this technique has its drawbacks. One of which is the smaller size of diamonds made this way. Diamonds made this way are thousands of times smaller than diamonds made under HTHP, making them difficult to use in jewelry.
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