Surface Structure of Large Synthetic Diamonds by High Temperature and High Pressure

With NiMnCo and FeCoNi alloys as solvent metals, large single-crystal diamonds of about 3mm across are grown by temperature gradient method （TGM） under high temperature and high pressure （HPHT）. Although both {100} and {111} surfaces are developed by a layer growth mechanism, some different characteristic patterns are seen clearly on the different surfaces, no matter whether NiMnCo or FeCoNi alloys are taken as the solvent metals. For {100} surface, it seems to have been melted or etched greatly, no dendritic patterns to be found, and only a large number of growth hillocks are dispersed net-likely; while for {111} surface, it often seems to be more smooth-faced, no etched or melted traces are present even when a lot of depressed trigonal growth layers. This distinct difference between {111} and {100} surfaces is considered to be related to the difference of surface-atom distribution of different surfaces, and {111} surfaces should be more difficult to be etched and more steady than {100} surfaces.

Effects of Al and Ti/Cu on Synthesis of Type-Ⅱa Diamond Crystals in NiToMn25Co5-C System at HPHT

High-quality type-Ⅱa gem diamond crystals are successfully synthesized in a NiToMn25Co5-C system by temperature gradient method （TGM） at about 5.5 GPa and 1560 K. Al and Ti/Cu are used as nitrogen getters respectively. While nitrogen getter Al or Ti/Cu is added into the synthesis system, some inclusions and caves tend to be introduced into the crystals. When Al is added into the solvent alloy, we would hardly gain high-quality type-Ⅱa diamond crystals with nitrogen concentration Nc 〈 1 ppm because of the reversible reaction of Al and N at high pressure and high temperature （HPHT）. Piowever, when Ti/Cu is added into the solvent alloy, high-quality type-Ⅱa diamond crystals with Nc 〈 1 ppm can be grown by decreasing the growth rate of diamonds.

HPHT Synthesis of Different Shape Coarse-Grain Diamond Single Crystals

Synthesis of coarse-grain diamond crystals is studied in a China-type SPD6× 1670T cubic high-pressure apparatus with high exact control system. To synthesize high quality coarse-grain diamond crystals, advanced indirect heat assembly, powder catalyst technology and optimized synthesis craft are used. At last, three kinds of coarse- grain diamond （about 0.85 mm） single crystals with hexahedron, hex-octahedron and octahedron are synthesized successfully under HPHT （about 5.4 GPa, 1300-1450℃）. The growth characters of different shape crystals are discussed. The results and techniques might be useful for the production of coarse-grain diamonds.

Effect of Seed Sizes on Growth of Large Synthetic Diamond Crystals

For the growth of large synthetic diamond crystals by temperature gradient method （TGM）, the grit sizes of seed crystals have great effects on the growth rate and quality of large grown crystals. Because of the limited area of seed surfaces, the maximum diffusion flux of carbon source, which could be absorbed by the seed, is related to the seed size. And with increasing the seed sizes, the growth rates also increase markedly. However, the seed sizes should be lower than a certain value, which determines the crystal quality directly. For example, with NiMnCo alloy as the metal solvent, when the seed size increases from 0.5 to 1.8 mm, the growth rate increases greatly from about 1.1 to 3.2 mg/h; when the size is beyond 2.0 mm, more and more metal inclusions would be incorporated into the grown crystals, and the crystal quality is destroyed heavily. Finite element analysis （FEA） shows that, due to the special assembly of growth cell, the diffusion of carbon source in the metal solvent is very inhomogeneous, which could be substantiated directly by the appearances and shapes of large grown crystals and the remains of carbon source. And this inhomogeneous diffusion of carbon source would be very harmful to the growth of large diamond crystals, especially when large-size seed crystals are used.

Effect of additive boron on type-Ib gem diamond single crystals synthesized under HPHT

The boron-doped type-Ib gem diamond crystals were synthesized successfully by adding amorphous boron into a system of graphite and Kovar catalyst under high pressure and high temperature (HPHT).The effect of additive boron on type-Ib gem diamond was extensively studied including the growth characteristic,morphology and nitrogen concentration.The synthesized boron-doped type-Ib gem diamond crystals were characterized by optical microscope (OM),scanning electron microscope (SEM) and infrared spectrometer (IR).The results show that the growth region of the {111} face becomes wide,whereas the growth region of the {100} face becomes narrow and nearly disappears as increasing additive boron in the sample.The crystal will be opaque and imperfect,and the concentration of nitrogen will be decreased when the boron atoms are incorporated into gem diamond lattice.These techniques are very important and will be widely applied.