Professor Oliver Williams of the University of Cardiff, United Kingdom, led a team to manufacture diamonds for semiconductor research. They first put a natural diamond as a 'seed' into a vacuum chamber to remove impurities from the air and then pump it to the vacuum chamber. Into the high-temperature gas of 3000 degrees Celsius methane and hydrogen gas, forming a highly charged plasma. Due to the higher temperature, the two gases quickly split. The carbon atoms split from the methane gas are collected in the 'seed diamond' and naturally mimic this natural diamond. The crystal structure is 'grown' at a rate of 0.006 mm per hour. In a laboratory environment, a 1-carat diamond can be 'bred' in a few days.
The same technology can be used to produce diamonds for jewelry. Professor Williams said that the purity of the diamonds produced in this kind of laboratory is higher than that found in nature. He told the British Sky News Channel: 'The best 'planter'. (Produced diamonds), with only one impurity per trillion atoms. 'This artificial diamond is 15% to 20% cheaper than an equivalent natural diamond.
This technology is expected to completely subvert the diamond industry, and several large companies have already tried to 'plant' jewelry diamonds. However, the chairman of the Diamond Manufacturers Association Jean-Marc Liebherr believes that even if the appearance is difficult to distinguish with the naked eye, artificial diamonds And natural diamonds are still of different value. Because, the value of jewelry depends to a certain extent on 'emotional quality'.