Scientists Grew Artificial Diamonds In 15 Minutes
Scientists from the Institute of Basic Sciences in South Korea have developed a technique that helps grow an artificial diamond in a matter of minutes. It also doesn’t require much compression.
Scientists from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) have proposed something completely different and simple. Even earlier, one of the authors of the new work noticed that carbon atoms can be bonded in the presence of liquid gallium. Its melting point is only 29.76 °C. In an environment of methane gas in the presence of gallium, carbon was converted into graphene. Therefore, this method could be used to synthesize diamonds.
The discovery was led by chance: a drop of liquid gallium fell on a silicon wafer and dissolved it. In this place, scientists discovered inclusions of tiny diamonds. Further research led to the development of a process in which a mixture of liquid gallium, silicon, iron and nickel was heated in a small crucible to a temperature of 1025 °C and exposed to methane and hydrogen gases. In a small-volume working chamber, diamonds appeared within 15 minutes without the need for seeding.
Synthetic diamonds are widely used in a wide variety of industrial processes, electronics, and even quantum computers. Scientists noted that the new technique will make their production much faster and easier.
