Go to Article
Excerpt from www.livescience.com
Scientists have used a new technique to synthesize diamonds at normal, atmospheric pressure and without a starter gem, which could make the precious gemstones much easier to grow in the lab.
Natural diamonds form in Earth’s mantle, the molten zone buried hundreds of miles beneath the planet’s surface. The process takes place under tremendous pressures of several gigapascals and scorching temperatures exceeding 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit (1,500 degrees Celsius).
Similar conditions are employed in the method currently used to synthesize 99% of all artificially created diamonds. Called high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT) growth, this method uses these extreme settings to coax carbon dissolved in liquid metals, like iron, to convert it to diamond around a small seed, or starter diamond.