Carbon onions put on the pressure.A new technique of making diamonds out of soft graphite generates the huge pressures needed by simply letting carbon itself do the squeezing. Florian Banhart and Pulickel M. Ajayan at the Max Planck Noun 1. Max Planck - German physicist whose explanation of blackbody radiation in the context of quantized energy emissions initiated quantum theory (1858-1947) Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck, Planck Institute for Metal Research in Stuttgart, Germany, formed diamonds less than 50 nanometers in diameter in the cores of carbon onions, small particles consisting of multiple concentric Coming from the center, or circles within circles. For example, tracks on a hard disk are concentric. Tracks on optical media are concentric or spiral shaped (in a coil) depending on the type. layers of graphite. Heating the onions to about 700#161#C and bombarding Bombarding is the process of 'pumping' a Cold Cathode Lighting tube (otherwise called Neon Signs). Information A detailed process of bombarding can be found here, Bombarding. them with an electron beam A stream of electrons, or electricity, that is directed towards a receiving object. See electron beam imaging and electron beam lithography. triggered atomic rearrangement re·ar·range tr.v. re·ar·ranged, re·ar·rang·ing, re·ar·rang·es To change the arrangement of. re in the carbon layers, causing them to contract, the researchers say. "In effect, the carbon onions act as nanoscopic pressure cells for diamond formation," they note in the Aug. 1 Nature. At this point, it's unclear whether larger diamonds could be made this way, but the method provides scientists with a window into how graphite changes to diamond. Also, studies are under way to see if other materials can be slipped into the carbon onions and then squeezed, Banhart says. |
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