July 2020 - Lab Grown Magazine

July 2020 | LG | The Lab Grown Diamond Resource Book 20 To advertise call (888) 832-1109 | July 2020 21 discarded it becomes. A controlled, but dis- persed, sharing of industry secrets is critical to widespread and long-term success. Embracing a leading non-profit to assist in legal updates, communication breakthroughs, partnership alliances, and promotions should be on the LG industry’s to-do list. “The lab grown diamond industry needs to be better educated on the process, and desperately needs leader- ship direction. This is the future of our industry and will build added value for LG and the min- ing business, if built correctly,” says Jansen. “I have had many major retailers, manufacturers, and organizations in my lab in an effort of education—for my guests and for us.” Learning is a two-way street. Lab-Grown Processes Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) is today’s most popular LG process. With CVD, tiny bits of crushed natural diamond are seeded onto a surface and exposed to plasma—a cloud of gas heated to 800 o C, stripping away the electrons from their atoms. The plasma contains hydrogen and car- bon, two elements required to form a diamond. The heat causes the gasses to break down. The carbon atoms separate and then adhere to the diamond seeds where they start to crystallize. The second major technique is the High- Pressure-High-Temperature (HPHT) method. Diamond seeds are covered with a layer of car- bon, in the form of graphite, then heated to about 1500 o C, while being pressurized to approximate- ly 1.5 million pounds per square inch. The graphite is dissolved in molten iron and nickel at about 1200 o C. The diamond seeds are in a slightly cooler area, and the supersaturated solution of carbon/iron/nickel kicks out the carbon atoms in the cooler area and they are attracted to the seeds. This may sound easy, but it is not. The high pressure and tem- perature are very difficult to control. “Because these labo- ratory processes mimic the conditions that form natural diamonds and precious gem- stones, no two lab-created dia- monds or gemstones are ever the same,” notes Chatham. The Elements of Color As in Nature, lab-grown col- ored diamonds are created by adding trace elements to the growth cell during the process. These various elements are responsible for the different hues. The trace elements that enter the diamond dur- ing formation mix with the carbon. Nitrogen takes the place of a number of carbon atoms, thus cre- ating yellow, brown and orange. Blue diamonds get their color from boron. The more boron that replaces carbon atoms, the deeper becomes the blue shade. The same process is replicated in a factory. Pink and red colors are made by an after-growth treatment on pale yellows, similar to radiation but permanent. Green diamonds may be the most fascinat- ing of all, as gamma radiation is responsible for forming the green hue. A natural green diamond endures intense exposure to atomic radioactiv- ity during its formation underground, sometimes lasting for millions of years. The radiation, usually coming from radioactive uranium, has the abil- ity to displace carbon atoms in the diamond from their positions and changes the rock’s ability to absorb and refract light, so it reflects a green col- or. The longer the radiation exposure, the more vivid the green color becomes. This process has been replicated in a lab.The replacement of car- bon by trace elements is why we have four major diamond types: 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B. Only Type 2A has no trace elements and is pure carbon. From an old-world history perspective to a modern-day new business development mind- set and vision, colored lab-grown diamonds may very well be in everyone’s future. ■ If you improve the quality and benefits of something natural by making it yourself, people may actually pay more for the created version. The color in fancy diamonds, both mined and lab- grown is generally due to the presence of trace elements that replace the carbon atoms in the diamond’s structure.