What is the atomic structure of Synthetic Single Crystal Diamond?
A. Synthetic single crystal diamond has an identical physical structure to that of natural single crystal diamond. The basic diamond atomic structure, described by its unit cell can be pictured as a face-centred cube (as shown below) with a carbon atom in the middle of each face and four more atoms arranged diagonally opposite each other in pairs, with the upper plane offset at a right angle to the lower plane. Unlike graphite, the individual planes are not flat but corrugated. In diamond, each carbon atom is connected to four other carbon atoms by covalent bonds. In the simplest case, these four atoms form a perfect tetrahedron. Due to covalent bonding between the atoms there are no free electrons and synthetic diamond is normally not electrically conducting. In the case for synthetic diamond, one or more of the carbon atoms might be replaced (or substituted) with nitrogen atoms, giving the diamond a yellow colour.
Synthetic single crystal diamond has an identical physical structure to that of natural single crystal diamond. The basic diamond atomic structure, described by its unit cell, can be pictured as a face-centered cube (as shown above) with a carbon atom in the middle of each face and four more atoms arranged diagonally opposite each other in pairs, with the upper plane offset at a right angle to the lower plane. Unlike graphite, the individual planes are not flat but corrugated. In diamond, each carbon atom is connected to four other carbon atoms by covalent bonds. In the simplest case, these four atoms form a perfect tetrahedron. Due to covalent bonding between the atoms there are no free electrons and synthetic diamond is normally not electrically conducting. In the case for synthetic diamond, one or more of the carbon atoms might be replaced (or substituted) with nitrogen atoms, giving the diamond a yellow color. How is diamond grit measured? Diamond abrasives are traditionally sold i
