Researchers from South Korea’s Institute for Basic Science have developed a new method to produce diamonds in just 150 minutes using a special liquid metal mix. The new technique eliminates the need for immense pressure typically required for diamond production, making it faster and more efficient.
The new approach involves dissolving carbon in liquid metal, which is not a new concept. However, previous methods involved high pressure and diamond seeds. In the new method, researchers use a specific blend of liquid metals – gallium, iron, nickel, and silicon – heated rapidly in a vacuum chamber with methane and hydrogen gases. Under these conditions, carbon atoms become suspended in the liquid metal and form diamond crystal seeds in just 15 minutes. Tiny diamond fragments emerge within another 90 minutes to form a continuous diamond film.
The study’s authors acknowledge limitations such as the current diamond film’s depth but believe that improvements can be made through optimized carbon distribution methods and enlarged growth areas. This groundbreaking technique has the potential to revolutionize diamond production in various fields such as industrial applications, electronics, and quantum computers. The researchers plan to develop this liquid metal approach further to grow diamonds on diverse surfaces and existing diamond particles.
This research offers a promising solution for a faster, easier, and more efficient way to produce diamonds. The study was published in Nature Nanotechnology.
Diamond production has always been an expensive process that requires immense pressure or weeks of synthesis time. However, with this new method developed by researchers at South Korea’s Institute for Basic Science (IBS), diamonds can now be produced much faster than before – in just 150 minutes – using only normal atmospheric pressure.
Led by Dr Yong-Tae Choi from IBS’ Center for Nanostructures and Nanofabrication Group (CNNG), the team used a special liquid metal mix consisting of gallium, iron, nickel, silicon (GIN) heated rapidly in a vacuum chamber with methane and hydrogen gases.
Under these conditions, carbon atoms became suspended in the liquid metal mixture forming small crystals called “diamond seeds” within 15 minutes. These tiny crystals then grew into larger fragments that formed an entire layer of continuous diameter film within another 90 minutes.
Dr Choi said that although there are still limitations to this method – such as the shallow depth of the current diamond film – he believes that improvements can be made through optimizing carbon distribution methods and expanding growth areas.
The significance of this discovery cannot be overstated as it could revolutionize various industries such as industrial applications like cutting tools or wearable electronics like sensors or quantum computers.
Furthermore, Dr Choi believes that this GIN approach could also be used to grow diamonds on different surfaces or even existing particle sizes like microdiamonds or nanodiamonds.
Overall, this breakthrough has enormous implications for various industries worldwide who rely on high-quality diamonds for their products’ performance or aesthetic appeal.