Synthetic Diamonds - Manufacturing Process

Apollo Diamonds

In order to produce single diamond crystals using chemical vapor deposition, the exact combination of gas composition, temperature and pressure must be found. This has been dubbed the "sweet spot".

Without that magical combination, the process will produce a rainstorm of tiny diamond crystals. Robert Linares found the "sweet spot". Linares received a US patent for his process that "grows" crystals by creating a vapor cloud in a depressurized chamber. The vapor cloud is a combination of hydrogen and natural gas.

A substrate wafer with a diamond seed is placed on a pedestal inside the chamber. Temperatures of 1,800 degrees farenheight are achieved with a microwave beam. At that temperature, electrons leave their bonds and form a plasma cloud.

These free electrons precipitate like rain out of the cloud of plasma, depositing on the wafer seed.

Over time the crystals "grow" to blocks which can be fashioned into brilliant diamonds .. or sliced into semiconductor wafers.

Visit Apollo Synthetic Diamonds

Gemesis Diamonds

The Gemesis process for synthetic diamonds mimics how scientists believe the earth produced natural diamonds .. high pressure and high temperature.

A crystal is grown in a ceramic chamber that contains graphite, metal solventsand a seed diamond at bottom. The ceramic module is centered in the compression sphere where hydraulic pressure forces together steel anvils. The ceramic module is sandwiched between the anvils which concentrates the pressure to almost 60,000 atmospheres.

An electric heating element in the ceramic module heats up to 2,300 degrees farenheight

The combined heat and pressure atomizes the pure carbon (graphite) which migrates to the cooler end of the ceramic module where a diamond seed's catalytic action grows a diamond crystal.

After several days, the ceramic module is removed and broken open to reveal a diamond crystal. With the Gemesis process, colored diamonds grow more rapidly than do colorless. Yellow and orange diamonds are predicted to be sold at approximately one third of the parice of naturals. The process can also produce pink and blue synthetic diamonds as well.

Visit Gemesis Cultured Diamonds