Man Made Diamond Information
For decades, diamonds have been the symbol of love and
marriage, of life-long commitment. And for just as many years,
scientists and researchers have searched for less expensive ways to
create or “grow” diamond and other gemstone substitutes.
These imitations are not only for the jewelry industry, but also for the
world of technology. In fact, the first man made gemstone was a ruby,
created in 1902. Even before that, though, in 1893, a scientist working
in a meteorite crater in Arizona, found tiny diamond-like structures,
and tried to replicate them. Thus the history
of man made diamonds began well over a hundred years ago.
Man made diamonds fall into two distinct categories:
synthetic and simulant. Synthetic
gems, like the previously mentioned ruby, possess all the same
traits and characteristics of the their natural counterparts. The only
difference is their “occurrence”. Natural gems are found out in the
world, usually mined, and synthetic ones are created in the laboratory.
The second category of man made diamonds is diamond
simulant. Consisting of a different chemical composition, these man
made diamonds have similar characteristics to diamonds. The tiny
diamonds discovered in Arizona were an example of a diamond simulant.
Composed of silicon carbide (SiC), the tiny chips were a hard mineral
called moissanite,
named after Dr. Moissan, the scientist who discovered them in that
crater in 1893. These simulants didn’t hit the market until recent
years. Cubic
Zirconia, however, is the king of the simulant market. Popular,
abundant and inexpensive, CZ is composed of zirconium oxide (ZrO2),
and has been around since the late 1970s.
Within the synthetic category, the stones are classified into different man
made diamond types, according to the method by which they are
manufactured. The oldest method, first discovered in 1955, creates
diamonds by replicating the conditions nature uses. High
pressure, high temperature (HPHT), subjects the seed ingredients to
temperatures of over 1,000 degrees Celsius, and to pressures of over
50,000 atmospheres (much like a herd of elephants standing on the head
of a pin.) Companies using this process to create their synthetic
diamonds include LifeGem
and Gemesis.
Tairus
also uses HPHT to produce their diamonds, but via a slightly different
process known as the hydrothermal method. All three companies are recent
entrants into the gemstone world, and create slightly different types of
man made diamonds.
The other method used to create man made diamonds is CVD, chemical
vapor deposition. This process uses a seed ingredient, too, but
instead of using high heat and pressure, creates a chemical reaction.
The reaction forms a “carbon” vapor which then deposits the diamond
onto the seed, often atom by atom. Apollo
man made diamonds are “grown” using this method. Apollo Diamonds
is also a recent entrant into the gemstone market.
As mentioned previously, the production of imitation diamonds was
originally meant to serve science. The discoveries of gemstone quality
crystals were merely an accident. In technology, man
made diamond applications are abundant. Diamonds are beautiful, and
they are also very hard, extremely durable and can act as thermal
conductors. These traits qualify them for use in computers, lasers,
radiation detection devices and semiconductors. Diamonds are rare and
expensive, with a cost that often hinders usage in research.
Inexpensive, mass production of man made diamonds can be a boon to
future scientific breakthroughs. So, research continues. |
