How are Diamonds created in a Lab?
There are many reasons why consumers are increasingly choosing lab-grown diamonds over mined diamonds: They are more cost-effective, and sustainable, and guarantee that they were sourced ethically. When tested with a diamond tester, lab diamonds are real diamonds that are optically, physically, and chemically identical to their mined counterparts.
There are two methods for growing diamonds in a laboratory: Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) and high temperatures (HPHT). The manufacturing process of some lab-grown diamond grading certificates will be listed.
How do HPHT Diamonds Come About?
The first method for growing diamonds in a lab was the HPHT method. By replicating the high-pressure, high-temperature conditions that form diamonds underground in the Earth during HPHT, diamonds are produced in a laboratory. In the 1950s, HPHT diamonds of gem quality were introduced. The HPHT process can be used to change the color of diamonds to make them colorless, pink, green, blue, or yellow, in addition to growing diamonds.
A very small diamond seed is placed in carbon, the element that makes diamonds, to grow an HPHT diamond. In a manner that is analogous to the way diamonds are grown naturally underground by the earth, the diamond seed is subjected to extreme heat and pressure. Over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit and 1.5 million pounds per square inch of pressure are applied to the diamond seed. The seed is surrounded by a diamond made of melted carbon. After that, it cools, and the diamond forms.
Due to their exposure to nitrogen during formation, HPHT diamonds are more likely to have a yellowish hue. Additionally, they frequently have metallic, darker inclusions. Because diamonds rarely capture metals during formation, these metallic inclusions can assist scientists in determining whether or not they were grown in a laboratory.
HPHT diamonds’ metallic inclusions have the potential to make the stones magnetic. Natural diamonds are not magnetic, so this is yet another way to determine whether or not it was grown in a lab. Over half of the HPHT diamonds tested had a detectable magnetic response, according to a 2012 study. As previously stated, the metallic inclusions in more than half of HPHT diamonds cause them to respond magnetically. You could try using a magnet on the diamond, but this isn’t always a good way to tell if it was grown using HPHT because not all HPHT diamonds have enough metallic inclusions to react with a magnet.
How Do CVD Diamonds Come About?
Since the CVD approach was developed in the 1980s, it is more recent than the HPHT approach. Diamond formation in interstellar gas clouds is emulated by the CVD technique. The CVD method uses smaller machines and uses less pressure than the HPHT method. A diamond seed is placed in a vacuum chamber using the CVD method. This room is heated to nearly 1500 degrees Fahrenheit and filled with carbon-rich gases. At these extremely high temperatures, the gas changes into plasma and releases carbon atoms. The diamond grows from these carbon fragments layered on top of the diamond seed. Type IIA diamonds, which are extremely uncommon among naturally occurring diamonds, are produced by the CVD process. This can assist researchers in determining whether a diamond was grown on earth or in the lab. In contrast to HPHT diamonds, which are exposed to nitrogen, Type IIA diamonds are the most chemically pure. These diamonds lack nitrogen and/or boron impurities. In contrast to HPHT diamonds, CVD diamonds are not magnetic.
Which approach is superior?
A CVD diamond and an HPHT diamond cannot be distinguished by the naked eye. A stunning, gleaming diamond can be produced by using either method. A genuine diamond will be produced using either the CVD method or the HPHT method, and it will be chemically, optically, and physically identical to diamonds grown on earth.
