Fringe Files: Super Diamonds

Wow, this was sort of a new information to me! These super diamonds are something really strange. I mean, everyone knows what diamonds are, they are though as a, well diamond! Naturall diamond are said to be the most durable configuration of carbon atoms, they are forged in the intense pressure and heat, deep below the Earth's surface. Therefore, the allotrope of carbon that is called the diamond creates the most strongest configuration of carbon atoms, in natural conditions.

Taken from Carbonchemistry

The weird thing is that, diamonds can be created syntheticaly and they are grown. There is basically two ways to make a diamond, synthetic one. One of them is HPHT (HighPressureHighTemperature) method, which uses mechanical presses to create the pressure needed to (about 5 GPa and temperature of 1500 C), they are created from very durable alloy of Tungsten. The other and more expensive way to create a diamond is the CVD method, where a tank of some sort is filled with methane and hydrogen. Why with methane and hydrogen? Well, its because of the carbon, carbon is the basic ingredient needed to form a diamond and in the CVD (ChemicalVaporDeposition) method the methane is used as a fue froml where the carbon is taken. Also, methane has no other atoms in it (one carbon and four hydrogens), other than hydrogen. Hydrogen is vital in this process, because its ability to "decline" carbon atoms that are "non-diamonds" to fuse with the actual growing diamond. CVD method uses low pressure and hig temperature (carbon plasma) to energize the carbon atoms to form the diamond. 

The superdiamond is not formed out of nothing, tough. In the CVD method, a microscopic diamond is needed. This is because the carbon can only then "know" where and what it needs to do in the tank. Superdiamond conduct electricity extremely well when fused with "impurities" like chemical boron (natural blue diamonds are semiconducting because of the boron in them). As a whole, diamonds are much better as insulators. Superdiamonds, because of their special crystalline form, are the best thermal conductors. Diamonds conduct heat over 5 times faster than copper, they are the toughest things known to man, women like them and they CAN be manufactured, despite what I used to say that "Diamonds do not grow in trees". It seems, that's not entirely true. 

So, when you look your ring and see those sparkly diamonds in it... altough real, it just might be that it's synthetic.... Oh! And the sparkle you see, that is the inherit property of the diamond structure, it can nearly capture photons in it by reflecting it back and forth inside the diamond. The light is reflected randomly, it never goes through straight. In my books, diamond both natural and synthetic are pretty fringe and cool and it turns out that "diamonds are forever".

Taken from Diamonds.net