"Growing" diamonds in the lab

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According to Shan Chongxin, a professor at Zhengda University, diamond is made of carbon element under the special conditions of high temperature and high pressure deep in the earth, plus a certain content and ratio of iron group metals as catalysts, after hundreds of millions of years of

How is rough uncut diamond "refined"?

According to Shan Chongxin, a professor at Zhengda University, diamond is made of carbon element under the special conditions of high temperature and high pressure deep in the earth, plus a certain content and ratio of iron group metals as catalysts, after hundreds of millions of years of "cultivation". And artificially cultivated diamonds can shorten this time to two or three weeks, just like planting flowers and plants, "growing" it in the laboratory.

The data shows that to obtain 1 carat of natural diamonds, 250 tons of ore need to be mined. Mining natural diamonds is very damaging to the natural environment, and it seems that many "scars" have been dug out on the surface of the earth. Therefore, artificially grown diamonds are of great significance for protecting and improving the natural environment.

From a technological point of view, the current mainstream technology for artificially synthesizing single crystal diamonds is the high temperature and high pressure method. In the synthesis process of this method, nitrogen or catalysts often enter the diamond, resulting in more impurities in the artificial diamond.

"Our synthetic diamonds synthesized by chemical vapor deposition have fewer impurities than natural diamonds and synthetic diamonds synthesized by high temperature and high pressure methods, and are more suitable for optoelectronic functional applications," he said. Under the illumination of the light, the diamonds "planted" in the laboratory are shiny, clean and bright.

The pursuit of pure and pure scientific research spirit is also deeply integrated into Shan Chongxin's work and life. He often said: "Scientific research itself is a very pure job, and researchers also need a pure dedication and dedication to their original aspirations."