Improving the Properties of Diamonds
Researchers at the Carnegie Institution have developed a new technique for improving the properties
of diamonds-not only adding sparkle to gemstones, but also simplifying the process of making high-quality
diamond for scalpel blades, electronic components, even quantum computers. The results are published in the
October 27-31 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A diamond may be forever, but the very qualities that make it a superior material for many purposes-its
hardness, optical clarity, and resistance to chemicals, radiation, and electrical fields- can also make
it a difficult substance with which to work.
Defects can be purged by a heating process called annealing,
but this can turn diamond to graphite, the soft, grey form of carbon used in pencil leads. To prevent
graphitization, diamond treatments have previously required high pressures (up to 60,000 times atmospheric
pressure) during annealing, but high pressure/high temperature annealing is expensive and there are limits on
the size and quantities of diamonds that can be treated.
Diamonds by Chemical Vapor Deposition
Yu-fei Meng, Chih-shiue Yan, Joseph Lai, Szczesny Krasnicki, Haiyun Shu, Thomas Yu, Qi Liang, Ho-kwang Mao,
and Russell Hemley of the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory used a method called chemical vapor deposition (CVD)
to grow synthetic diamonds for their experiments.
Unlike other methods, which mimic the high pressures deep within the
earth where natural diamonds are formed, the CVD method produces single-crystal diamonds at low pressure. The resulting
diamonds, which can be grown very rapidly, have precisely controlled compositions and comparatively few defects.
Annealing Diamonds
The Carnegie team then annealed the diamonds at temperatures up to 2000o C using a microwave plasma at pressures
below atmospheric pressure. The crystals, which are originally yellow-brown if produced at very high growth rates, turned
colorless or light pink. Despite the absence of stabilizing pressure there was minimal graphitization.
Using analytical methods such as photoluminescence and absorption spectroscopy, the researchers were also able to identify
the specific crystal defects that caused the color changes. In particular, the rosy pink color is produced by structures
called nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers, where a nitrogen atom takes the place of a carbon atom at a position in the crystal lattice next to a vacant site..
"This low-pressure/high-temperature annealing enhances the optical properties of this rapid-grown CVD single crystal diamond."
says Meng. "We see a significant decrease in the amount of light absorbed across the spectrum from ultraviolet to visible and infrared.
We were also able to determine that the decrease arises from the changes in defect structure associated with hydrogen atoms
incorporated in the crystal lattice during CVD growth."
Diamond Color Changes
"It is striking to see brown CVD diamonds transformed by this cost-efficient method into clear, pink-tinted
crystals," says Yan. And because the researchers pinpointed the cause of the color changes in their diamonds, "Our work
may also help the gem industry to distinguish natural from synthetic diamond."
Kilocarat Diamonds?
"The most exciting aspect of this new annealing process is the unlimited size of the crystals that can be treated. The
breakthrough will allow us to push to kilocarat diamonds of high optical quality" says coauthor Ho-kwang Mao. Because the
method does not require a high pressure press, it promises faster processing of diamonds and more types of diamonds to be
de-colored than current high-pressure annealing methods.
There is also no restriction on the size of crystals or the number
of crystals, because the method is not limited by the chamber size of a high pressure press. The microwave unit is also
significantly less expensive than a large high-pressure apparatus.
Diamonds for Specialized Manufacturing
"The optimized process will produce better diamond for new-generation high pressure devices and window materials
with improved optical properties in the ultraviolet to infrared range." concludes laboratory director Russell Hemley.
"It has the advantage of being applicable in CVD reactors as a subsequent treatment after growth."
The high-quality, single crystal diamond made possible by the new process has a wide variety of applications in science
and technology, such as the use of diamond crystals as anvils in high-pressure research and in optical applications that
take advantage of diamond's exceptional transparency. Among the more exotic future applications of the pink diamonds made
in this way is quantum computing, which could use the diamonds' NV centers for storing quantum information.
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 | This five-carat diamond was laser-cut from a ten-carat single crystal produced by high-growth rate chemical vapor deposition. Image credit: Carnegie Institution for Science |
IGI Gemesis: A 60 Minutes program that shows how IGI is producing synthetic diamonds.
The First Synthetic Diamond 1955: An Edison Exploratorium video featuring interviews with people who were instrumental in producing General Electric's first synthetic diamonds.
Synthetic Diamonds Offer Budget Bling: Synthetic stones offer a low price option, however, there are many reasons why some people might not want them in their ring.
We Grow Diamonds: CBS News interviews Bryant Linares, President of Apollo Diamond. They grow "cultured" diamonds from carbon seed to commercial stone in just a few days.
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 | Single-crystal diamond block formed by chemical vapor deposition process on six faces of a substrate diamond. Image credit: Carnegie Institution for Science. |
 | The chemical vapor deposition process can produce a variety of single crystal diamonds. Image credit: Carnegie Institution for Science. |
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