t.o.

I heart the news said that the experts could tell the difference between a nature diamond with a laboratory made one. How do they do that?

Andy1845c

I would imagine the differance is pretty clear under a microscope?

I got to look at diamonds under a gemscope when I bought my wife's engagment ring. I was surprised how they all look about the same to the naked eye, but are very interesting to look at under the high magnafication.

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t.o.

It was said there is only one machine in Australia can tell the difference.

Andy1845c

Well, if thats true, I would also be curious.

Maybe somone else has an idea?

Edit: A bit of googling indicates that it is hard to distingush the man made stones from mined stones. They are the same down to the atomic structure. One bit I read said the only way a jeweler could tell them apart was the mad man stones are too perfect due to the fact that the pressure used to create them is more even.

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/whatsne...cbccdrcrd.html

Check out the part about diamond semiconductors! Never heard of such a thing!

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justDIY

Isn't it called laser refraction or something like that? the man made diamonds aren't as dense as the ones forged over hundreds of millions of years, and they can measure that density using precision laser beams.

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shaneshane1

It's the news, they can tell you anything and people will believe it!!!

using the same materials
if you condence them hard inuf and long inuf then your likely to endup with the same thing, as from trying to tell them apart, i dont think you could know for shore, even if a diomond was evenly pressurized, there's nothing to say that its not a real diomond, all diomonds(and everything for that matter) are different in some way.

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HiTech

Moisanite (man-made diamond) can actually be harder than natural diamonds. There are Moisanite stones that are off the Rockwell scale. Moisanite can also be far costlier than natural diamonds as they are absolutely perfect when created for gemstone use. My wife has one and IT WAS EXPENSIVE!! Natural diamonds also refract light slightly different as well as have even the tiniest of inclusions in them... even if they claim to be "perfect".

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jpanhalt

It was probably phosphorescence, which is the after glow after they are exposed to light. Natural diamonds that contain boron or nitrogen as impurities (i.e., type IIB) phosphoresce at two wavelengths, 500 and 660 nm; synthetic diamonds do not emit at 660 nm. The pattern of the emission was also useful in identifying specific diamonds. This work was described in Science News, see: http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080112/fob2.asp

John

pitronix

Ther is also test concerning thermal conductivity but I'm not sure if it works for diferentiating natural vs. man made diamonds. I think that it works if denisity of diamonds made by man is different from natural ones.

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crusty

Better than slaves with a pickax down in a mine held up by twigs...

rjvh

i spoke ones with a diamond trader and ask him the same question
his answer was that the light reflects a fraction diferent than the mmd (man made diamond) also the hardness was diferent
an other thing is that the perfect diamond (without impuritys) color wise and uncracked is not that comon as people think it is
thats why they're expensive
the many not perfect diamonds get their way in the avarage man jewelery and the real shitty ones that even your visualy handicapted grand mother will reconise as not nice they end up in drill bits and cutting tools

the mmd end up in 85% industrial applications but a few also end up in avarage man jewelery

shokjok

Do manmade diamonds survive the felt pen test? A manmade diamond would reject the felt pen stroke on the diamond face, while a natural diamond would highlight the felt stroke without bleeding on the stone face.

Hero999

Diamonds also make excellent heatsinks, they're the best thermal conductors known and one of the best electrical insulators so nothing is better suited to the job.

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Styx

yer diamond semi are like the holy grail!!! can run at high temp, can block high voltage, can....

Problem is its a bitch to grow and even more of a bitch to dope - they have only just managed to dope diamond Ptype (which is useless as a semi unless you can get Ntype)

SiC is suppose to be the bridge between Diamond and exotic Silicon but that isn't that great either. Can make diodes easy enough and some JFET's but the yield is very low (something todo with micropiping in the crystal while it grows)

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Sceadwian

Nano technology is going to take us down this diamond road pretty soon if it works out. Deposited nano carbon particles are only a shade less perfect than a true diamond crystal, they'll probably hold up existing CMOS tech as the manufacturing techniques are refined. Using nano deposited carbon layers for gate and package insulation increases heat distribution and dramatically decreases gate capacitance. With ever and ever higher clock rates these insulation boundaries are the driving force in semi conductor manufacturing.

Nice to know we can just about obsolete the natural diamond from a material generation standpoint with technology. My wife would appreciate it as she abhors precious gems from a monetary and sentimental standpoint. She'd appreciate a random rock I picked up from the side of our street more if I'd put some thought into it and shaped it a little rather than some piece of cold rock that's been in the earth for a billion years and 6 months of my paycheck to acquire it. It's just pencil lead in a different form after all.

Reminds me, I need to find a random rock and put some effort into it.

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