I'm sitting in a fast-food restaurant outside Boston that, because of a nondisclosure agreement I had to sign, I am not allowed to name. I'm waiting to visit Apollo Diamond, a company about as secretive as a Soviet-era spy agency. Its address isn't published. The public relations staff wouldn't give me directions. Instead, an Apollo representative picks me up at this exurban strip mall and drives me in her black luxury car whose make I am not allowed to name along roads that I am not allowed to describe as twisty, not that they necessarily were.
"This is a virtual diamond mine," says Apollo CEO Bryant Linares when I arrive at the company's secret location, where diamonds are made. "If we were in Africa, we'd have barbed wire, security guards and watch towers. We can't do that in Massachusetts." Apollo's directors worry about theft, corporate spies and their own safety. When Linares was at a diamond conference a few years ago, he says, a man he declines to describe slipped behind him as he was walking out of a hotel meeting room and said someone from a natural diamond company just might put a bullet in his head. "It was a scary moment," Linares recalls.
Bryant's father, Robert Linares, working with a collaborator who became a co-founder of Apollo, invented the company's diamond-growing technique. Robert escorts me into one of the company's production rooms, a long hall filled with four refrigerator-size chambers bristling with tubes and gauges. As technicians walk past in scrubs and lab coats, I glance inside the porthole window of one of the machines. A kryptonite-green cloud fills the top of the chamber; at the bottom are 16 button-size disks, each one glowing a hazy pink. "Doesn't look like anything, right?" Robert says. "But they will be half-caraters in a few weeks."
In 1796, chemist Smithson Tennant discovered that diamond is made out of carbon. But only since the 1950s have scientists managed to produce diamonds, forging them out of graphite subjected to temperatures as high as 2,550 degrees Fahrenheit and pressures 55,000 times greater than that of earth's atmosphere. But the stones were small and impure. Only the grit was useful, mostly for industrial applications such as dental drills and hacksaw blades. Over the past decade, however, researchers such as Linares have perfected a chemical process that grows diamonds as pure and nearly as big as the finest specimens hauled out of the ground. The process, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), passes a carbon gas cloud over diamond seeds in a vacuum chamber heated to more than 1,800 degrees. A diamond grows as carbon crystallizes on top of the seed.
Robert Linares has been at the forefront of crystal synthesis research since he started working at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, in 1958. He went on to start a semiconductor company, Spectrum Technologies, which he later sold, using the proceeds to bankroll further research on diamonds. In 1996, after nearly a decade working in the garage of his Boston home—no kidding, in the garage, where he'd set up equipment he declines to describe—he discovered the precise mixture of gases and temperatures that allowed him to create large single-crystal diamonds, the kind that are cut into gemstones. "It was quite a thrill," he says. "Like looking into a diamond mine."
Seeking an unbiased assessment of the quality of these laboratory diamonds, I asked Bryant Linares to let me borrow an Apollo stone. The next day, I place the .38 carat, princess-cut stone in front of Virgil Ghita in Ghita's narrow jewelry store in downtown Boston. With a pair of tweezers, he brings the diamond up to his right eye and studies it with a jeweler's loupe, slowly turning the gem in the mote-filled afternoon sun. "Nice stone, excellent color. I don't see any imperfections," he says. "Where did you get it?"
"It was grown in a lab about 20 miles from here," I reply.
He lowers the loupe and looks at me for a moment. Then he studies the stone again, pursing his brow. He sighs. "There's no way to tell that it's lab-created."
More than one billion years ago, and at least 100 miles below the surface of the earth, a mix of tremendous heat and titanic pressure forged carbon into the diamonds that are mined today. The stones were brought toward the surface of the earth by ancient underground volcanoes. Each volcano left a carrot-shaped pipe of rock called kimberlite, which is studded with diamonds, garnets and other gems. The last known eruption of kimberlite to the surface of the earth happened 47 million years ago.
Diamonds have been extracted from almost every region of the world, from north of the Arctic Circle to the tropics of western Australia. Most diamond mines start with a wide pit; if the kimberlite pipe has a lot of diamonds, miners dig shafts 3,000 feet or more deep. In areas where rivers once ran over kimberlite seams, people sift diamonds from gravel. Loose diamonds used to turn up in fields in the Midwest in the 1800s; they were deposited there by glaciers. Most geologists believe that new diamonds continue to form in the earth's mantle—much too deep for miners to reach.
The word "diamond" comes from the ancient Greek adamas, meaning invincible. People in India have mined diamond gems for well over 2,000 years, and first-century Romans used the stones to carve cameos. Over the ages, diamonds acquired a mystique as symbols of wealth and power. During the 16th century, the Koh-i-Noor, a 109-carat diamond from the Kollur mine in southern India, was perhaps the most prized item on the Indian subcontinent. Legend held that whoever owned it would rule the globe. "It is so precious," noted a writer at the time, "that a judge of diamonds valued it at half the daily expense of the whole world." Great Britain got the stone in 1849 when Lahore and Punjab became part of the British Empire; the diamond now sits in the Tower of London, the centerpiece of a crown made for Queen Elizabeth in 1937.
And yet diamonds are simply crystallized pure carbon, just as rock candy is crystallized sugar—an ordered array of atoms or molecules. Another form of pure carbon is graphite, but its atoms are held together in sheets rather than rigidly attached in a crystal, so the carbon sloughs off easily, say, at the tip of a pencil. Thanks to the strength of the bonds between its carbon atoms, diamond has exceptional physical properties. It's the hardest known material, of course, and it doesn't react chemically with other substances. Moreover, it's fully transparent to many wavelengths of light, is an excellent electrical insulator and semiconductor, and can be tweaked to hold an electrical charge.
The largest-known synthetic diamond is 34.80 carats grown by De Beers scientists in 1992.
Posted by Boris Feigelson on May 27,2008 | 07:58PM
Hello Ulrich and thanks for this fascinating article. Two questions for you: First, when you mention that diamond can be tweaked to hold an electrical charge, does it follow that diamond batteries could be on the horizon? Further research has turned up mention of no such thing. Second, I have always heard that natural diamonds come from coal. Have any of the researchers you encountered tried making diamond simply by squeezing lumps of coal? Thanks
Posted by Austin Alward on May 27,2008 | 11:39PM
When you speak about diamonds or diamond tools cutting this or that material, it should be understood that diamonds do not cut--- they merely abrade.
Posted by Elmore Easter on June 4,2008 | 11:17AM
Information was like a full-coarse meal.Very sastifying. There are so many choices,alittle history,facts and procedures.Even tested theories.Thanks,Cin
Posted by Cindy Moroni on June 9,2008 | 04:30PM
This article is well-thought out. The information is thourough and satisfying. Best wishes -Ricky
Posted by Ricky on June 10,2008 | 08:08AM
Excellent article. Very informative. Well researched and structured, as well as engaging.
Posted by Alex M on June 17,2008 | 02:58PM
Wired magazine had an article on this process and maybe even this company a year or two ago. There was talk then of diamond substrate integrated circuits. Maybe diamonds are about to get a loss less valuable from a financial perspective, and a lot more valuable functionally...
Posted by Mark on June 17,2008 | 03:02PM
Excellent article, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Well done. I'm looking forward to the diamond age.
Posted by Michael on June 17,2008 | 03:05PM
If you liked this story, you might like the novel "The Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson, it's somewhat related. http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Age-Illustrated-Primer-Spectra/dp/0553380966/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213745617&sr=8-1
Posted by Aaron on June 17,2008 | 04:34PM
Wow, no doubt about it dude. Diamonds are a girls best friend. Dont matter if its mined or made, either or will be gladly accepted! JT
Posted by John BlueFoot on June 17,2008 | 07:23PM
Hello Ulrich and thanks for this fascinating article. Two questions for you: First, when you mention that diamond can be tweaked to hold an electrical charge, does it follow that diamond batteries could be on the horizon? Uh... no. transistors maybe. type IIb blue diamonds are semiconductive. the boron impurities change the conductivity. why diamond batteries? Further research has turned up mention of no such thing. for obvious reasons. Second, I have always heard that natural diamonds come from coal. Have any of the researchers you encountered tried making diamond simply by squeezing lumps of coal? Thanks yes. Its hard and expensive. thats why you grow them. its easy and cheap. and to elmore, thats what cutting IS. see those teeth on the saw? They ABRADE off this or that material. Jesus... moral: talk radio does NOT mean you know everything.
Posted by not ulrich on June 17,2008 | 07:48PM
@Elmore: You are only considering diamond grinding wheels, which do abrade materials, in your comment. There are several companies that make diamond tipped metal cutting tools such as boring bars, end mills, form tools, etc., that cut in the same way that carbide inserts do. This is one such company: http://www.diamondtool.com/
Posted by Inventor2010 on June 17,2008 | 07:56PM
whahahahaha, this article is brilliant. i see now my 6 foot diamond sword will soon be a reality!
Posted by Miles Weston Clark on June 17,2008 | 08:40PM
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.html
Posted by rogue on June 17,2008 | 09:00PM
The British didn't 'get' the Kohinoor, they stole it.
Posted by Guy on June 17,2008 | 10:15PM
"There was a copper age and a steel age," Bryant says. "Next will be diamond." --There's actually a fascinating sci-fi novel by Neal Stephenson called "The Diamond Age", based on the idea that diamond-based technology will become plentiful and all kinds of fantastic new applications for it will be invented.
Posted by Maximus on June 17,2008 | 10:59PM
this is a great article on the diamond creation process :)
Posted by fooxie on June 17,2008 | 11:23PM
Nice closing lines. For those intrigued by the possible scientific implications of diamonds / the social ramifications of diamond manufacture, the novel Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson is a great book.
Posted by Amy on June 18,2008 | 03:03AM
Good article, but a couple caveats. Diamond is only the hardest *naturally* occurring substance. There are harder synthetics, such as aggregated carbon nanorods. Also, to whoever is trying to convince people to read The Diamond Age, while I love the book a lot, it has zip to do with diamonds; it's a sci-fi book about nanotechnology.
Posted by Matthew on June 18,2008 | 10:26AM
Instead of "cultured" or "synthetic", call these new diamonds "ethical".
Posted by MuhammadSchwarz on June 18,2008 | 10:49AM
For industrial and scientific applications diamonds are enormously valuable and would be used far more if DeBeers wasn't sitting on several billion carats to keep the world market artificially high. The sad fact is that diamonds have little or no investment value and the price is controlled by a mafia-like cartel that hordes all the diamonds in the world. Go buy the best diamond ring that you can find, then walk it down the street to a large jeweler and see what they offer you for it. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200612u/diamond-flashback
Posted by Diamonel on June 18,2008 | 11:59AM
The problem with DeBeers argument, is it is based on the fallacy of scarcity. Diamonds are NOT rare at all. Just overly controlled.
Posted by Brian on June 18,2008 | 12:08PM
Not a bad article but slightly misleading when you say that diamonds are not rare.Diamonds of cuttable quality are exceedingly rare, of the 750,000 pounds (according to your figures which by the way is also rubbish as this would equal 1.7 Billion carats and the real figure is much less than 50 Million worldwide) only around twenty percent are made into polished diamonds of any significant size.Secondly DeBeers has around 40% of the world production and not the 67% (Two thirds) that you quote.
Posted by John Marko on June 18,2008 | 12:22PM
It's really only an educated guess that allows scientists to speculate that diamonds come from the inside of the planet. It is possible to create high temperatures and high pressures on the surface and just beneath the surface of the planet with what is called a plasma pinch (z- or theta-, whatever). The astrophysicists have convinced the geologists that space is essentially charge-neutral. But we know that space is in fact filled with charged particles, and charged particles can in fact conduct electricity. Furthermore, the Earth itself is claimed to have an iron core (iron of course can carry and conduct charge). When you see a volcanic eruption, and lightning coming off of that eruption of magma, one way to explain that is that the magma is a conductor, and that charged particles are traveling into and/or out of the planet's surface. The idea that our planet cannot acquire or trade charge with its surroundings is an assumption that's never been properly validated. Diamonds can also be the result of massive interplanetary discharges, which could offer an alternative explanation for the tube-like formations within which they are observed since plasmas tend to form filaments, and lightning is nothing more than twisting plasma filaments. Go figure ... See http://www.thunderbolts.info/
Posted by Chris Reeve on June 18,2008 | 01:53PM
I second MuhammadSchwarz - perhaps this heralds a new era of ethical diamonds free from the taint of economic colonialism, civil war, brutality, and bloodshed.
Posted by hopeful on June 18,2008 | 07:38PM
If diamonds could be used as semi-conductors then they could probably even produce solar panels that are more efficient than the ones currently made from silicon. Any thoughts on that?
Posted by lensman on June 19,2008 | 04:27AM
My wedding ring was made by C5 company (www.C5company.com) and contains five lab-created, CVD diamonds. Several jewellers have said that the stones are flawless and have been surprised to learn that the stones are man-made. When you can have the beauty, sparkle and allure without the environmental or social disruptions, why wouldn't you opt for a lab diamond? Also, an excellent resource for people wanting to learn more about the rise of the mined diamond industry is The Last Empire by Stefan Kanfer.
Posted by Meghan Connolly Haupt on June 19,2008 | 08:30AM
As a reasearcher I am wondering what one of the disks costs?
Posted by isadore on June 19,2008 | 12:57PM
As a professional writer, I really enjoy reading good, crunchy, well-organized articles. Kudos! As a woman who loves sparkly stuff, I am delighted with lab-grown diamonds or CZs. Apart from items made of unusual stones (Tsavorite, Larimar etc.), my loveliest pieces are either CZ or high-grade crystal - and yes, I know they are very different substances! Thanks again for a fun and fine article. Maggie Negodaeff Ottawa, Canada
Posted by margaret negodaeff on June 19,2008 | 03:15PM
Where can you purchase top-quality lab-created diamonds. Is there a brand name to look for?
Posted by C Sundberg on June 19,2008 | 07:10PM
I really enjoyed the article and was surprised to learn the World's largest manmade diamond is owned by DeBeers.....
Posted by Jack C. Templeton Jr. on June 20,2008 | 04:44AM
It's interesting that you write, "Great Britain got the stone in 1849 when Lahore and Punjab became part of the British Empire." Great Britain didn't 'get' the stone: they stole it, or worse, plundered it, like they plundered a whole lot of other treasures from India. I find it fascinating that dastardly acts performed by Western nations are so lightly glossed over, so as to not upset the delicate constitutions of readers, but those performed by non-Western nations are typically described in graphic detail and with words of condemnation. At the end of the 18th century, India's share of the world's GDP was 25%. Within a century, it had plunged to less than 2%. This was during the height of the British Raj.
Posted by Murli N on June 20,2008 | 08:59AM
More interesting than the mineral manufacturing is the evil capitalist supply monopoly originally invented and controlled by DeBeers. This monumental historical rip-off of the public has no right to exist and should be crushed. The truth of the rarity of diamonds should be widely published, jewelers should be boycotted, and the monopoly destroyed. Some capitalists are sick to the core and evil, this is a prime example.
Posted by Johm Johnson on June 21,2008 | 06:23AM
No, diamonds are not chemically inert, and that's a good thing; otherwise it would be more difficult to make electronic or other devices from the material. In fact, diamonds will burn fairly easily. I remember one researcher who burned gem-grade stones in pure oxygen to get really pure CO2! How's that for deconstructionism?
Posted by Richard S on June 21,2008 | 11:34AM
As has been pointed out, this subject was originally broached to the popular press in a WIRED magazine article, which mentioned several companies experimenting with plasma diamond crystal growth. One is Gemesis (http://www.gemesis.com/). Another company Web site, which I did not bookmark, indicated shortly thereafter that it had been purchased by Chinese interests. Cheap Chinese diamonds?!
Posted by Steve Browne on June 21,2008 | 04:16PM
It has always been true that "There's no such thing as a free lunch." This story seems to IGNORE the 'carbon footprint' of the creation of a man-made diamond. How much electricity is involved? (The article describes the Apollo warehouse that "will soon be filled with 30 diamond-making machines" saying, "It's empty, except for large electrical cables snaking along the floor." How much of the electricity that will be used in the manufacture of man-made diamonds will be from oil, gas or coal? How much carbon dioxide will be released into the earth's atmosphere in the creation of these man-made diamonds? Doesn't this add to the increased greenhouse effect and the already serious global warming problem?
Posted by Daniel J Stark on June 22,2008 | 10:39AM
To Chris Reeve, it's not speculation that high pressures and temperature such as that that exists inside the earth are needed to convert carbon graphite into carbon diamond, another carbon allotropic form. In fact, the first synthetic process for making diamonds at GE and other companies use high temperature, high pressure presses which converted grahite to diamond. Under such condition, diamond is the more stable form. To lensman who had questions about diamond solar cells, a solar cell has to absorb visible light that is then converted into electricity via a semiconductor junction. As we all know by looking at a diamond ring, diamonds are transparent in the visible region so so a diamond solar cell would only absorb in the deep UV and produce very little electricity. To those who speculated about diamond batteries, batteries are electrochemical cell devices where electrododes undergo electrochemical reaction or exchange. Diamond is inert to most chemical reactions particularly redox reactions and is a good insulator. So the prospects for a worthwhile diamond battery are dim. For high energy density batteries you need electodes with high electromotive force potential (emf). Jerry Ceasar, A Physical Chemist
Posted by gerald ceasar on June 23,2008 | 07:16AM
This is great news. A very interesting read!
Posted by Susan on June 23,2008 | 04:10PM
@Stark - Quit being such a stereotypical hippie. Does not the potential of greater technology than could reduce other carbon footprints merit technical advancement? The article doesn't go into details, but it would seem that it is more efficient than the Gemesis method and that cost them $100 a diamond (which is probably a general collective of the overhead). Big technology doesn't always equate to big consumption. This was a great article though. Very interesting.
Posted by Tito on June 24,2008 | 11:02AM
This article is both exciting and frightening. While I appreciate the romanticism of natural diamonds, I abhor the atrocities that have gone into the procurement. I try to ignore these facts whenever I think about the engagement ring given to my wife. Diamonds are perhaps the most amazing and enchanting objects I have ever laid eyes upon. I am excited by the possibilities for the semiconductor industry. I am frightened because we have all seen knockoffs of every designer label and the semiconductor industry is pounded by counterfeits. Most of these products originate in China where organized crime against intellectual property runs rampant. Can you imagine what will happen if some of these mobsters are able to get their hands on one of these CVD machines?
Posted by Doug Merriott on June 26,2008 | 05:27PM
Reading all this is facinating, and I have read a great deal on this lately. I would like to know, when it is said there are un-mined stones, that cannot be determined as real or not, where do you purchase these?
Posted by my three twins on June 27,2008 | 01:06AM
a lot of people asked where they can find quality synthetic, unmined, cultured, ethical diamonds (whatever you want to call them). Apollo and Gemesis have websites, but both simply offer the amber colored gemstones. for those who want a more traditional look of white diamonds, Diamond Nexus Labs is a good place. www.diamondnexuslabs.com. My engagement ring and wedding bands came from them and all their diamonds are AIG certified. plus they have a wide selection of really nice looking jewelry.
Posted by Mary Walker on July 7,2008 | 10:13AM
where can you purchase one of these diamonds .
Posted by debbie dauser on July 14,2008 | 12:13PM
Several people asked where to purchase quality ethical diamonds and gem stones. Check out the website:C5company.com
Posted by Karyn on July 15,2008 | 01:56PM
I bought a pink cultured diamond at diamondscultured.com and i love it!
Posted by Deborah on August 5,2008 | 04:56PM
Maybe this will put an end to the blood-diamond trade. One can hope.
Posted by FastMovingCloud on August 6,2008 | 05:25PM
To Gerald Ceasar: You said that the first synthethic process of making diamond from graphite used high temp and high pressure, such that diamond was the most stable form. How come diamond? Isn't it thermodynamically unstable? It has been thought that, eventually, a diamond will return to its most stable form, which is graphite. Just would like to know.
Posted by kris on September 8,2008 | 08:59PM
FYI The only company that sells colorless synthetic diamonds (not CZ's) is Apollo Diamond. The other's are "enhanced CZ's." However Apollo doesnt sell their diamonds larger than 1 carat (and i think its .68 carats for a ring. Gemesis is one of the few that produces colored diamonds. My fiance and I are still waiting on Apollo to sell larger stone rings, however for now we've bought white sapphires since we love sapphires as well.
Posted by Paula on September 18,2008 | 12:02PM
Great article; very informative! Would the Asha simulant be considered a quality stone? What do you think about moissanite? I'm looking at getting a 2 carat stone for an engagement ring. Any suggestions as to where I can buy a quality stone? Thanks!
Posted by Luisa on October 13,2008 | 08:53AM
To: kris, I did not say that diamond was the most stable form at ordinary temperature and pressures. It is only at high temperatures and pressures that diamond becomes the more allotrope so that graphite can then be converted into diamond
Posted by Gerald Ceasar on October 31,2008 | 02:33PM
Matthew, you said the Diamond age is about nanotechnology. This article is about using diamonds as a replacement for silicon, as a smaller, faster, more efficient semiconductor that's much more stable. If we were to use diamonds in our computers, we would be able to eventually create nanotechnology. Don't you see how 1+1 equals 2? And as for the diamond in Great Britain, the country "got" the stone how it got it, whether it stole, plundered, or whatever. The article isn't trying to stir up trouble. Its a science magazine! Smithsonian just wants to inform. And as for the comment about these diamonds creating green house gases, that may be true, but we could possibly benefit from further research, even find a way to reduce green house gasses by converting to this diamond technology.
Posted by Rachel on November 11,2008 | 02:30PM
I though I read someplace that you could grow diamonds at about 650 degrees or so. Perhaps they use 1800 for quality control purposes.
Posted by Ed on January 4,2009 | 09:31AM
awsome article but if we start mass producing diamonds in labs diamond price will go down
Posted by viktor on January 14,2009 | 05:47PM
That's is pretty enlighting article I wish the writer take more in depth research in this subject
Posted by Rushdie Ahmad on January 15,2009 | 12:50AM