Maze of artists rendition of a pulsating diamond.
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A little about diamonds from Wikipedia
In mineralogy, diamond
(from the ancient Greek αδάμας – adámas "unbreakable")
is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon
atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic
crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the
conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient
conditions. Diamond is renowned as a material with superlative
physical qualities, most of which originate from the strong covalent
bonding between its atoms. In particular, diamond has the highest hardness and thermal
conductivity of any bulk material. Those properties determine the
major industrial application of diamond in cutting and polishing tools.
Diamond has remarkable optical
characteristics. Because of its extremely rigid lattice, it can be
contaminated by very few types of impurities, such as boron and nitrogen. Combined
with wide transparency, this results in the clear, colorless appearance
of most natural diamonds. Small amounts of defects or impurities (about
one per million of lattice atoms) color diamond blue (boron), yellow
(nitrogen), brown (lattice defects), green
(radiation exposure), purple, pink, orange or red. Diamond also has
relatively high optical dispersion
(ability to disperse light of different colors), which results in its
characteristic luster. Excellent
optical and mechanical properties, combined with efficient marketing,
make diamond the most popular gemstone.
Most natural diamonds are formed at
high-pressure high-temperature conditions existing at depths of 140 to
190 kilometers (87 to 120 mi) in the Earth mantle. Carbon-containing minerals
provide the carbon source, and the growth occurs over periods from
1 billion to 3.3 billion years (25% to 75% of the age of the Earth).
Diamonds
are
brought close to the Earth surface through deep volcanic eruptions
by a magma, which
cools into igneous rocks known as kimberlites
and lamproites.
Diamonds
can
also be produced synthetically in a high-pressure high-temperature process which
approximately simulates the conditions in the Earth mantle. An
alternative, and completely different growth technique is chemical
vapor deposition (CVD). Several non-diamond materials, which
include cubic
zirconia and silicon
carbide and are often called diamond simulants,
resemble diamond in appearance and many properties. Special gemological
techniques have been specially developed to distinguish natural and synthetic diamonds and diamond simulants.