Two methods are used to create artificial diamonds in the laboratory setting — chemical vapour deposition (CVD) and high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT). Regardless which process is used, these laboratory-grown diamonds are composed of the exact same crystallized isotropic 3D pure carbon, the same as mined diamonds.
What is a synthetic diamond?
Artificial diamonds are often referred to as cultured or cultivated diamonds, and they are authentic diamonds that have been created in a laboratory as opposed to being created by a geological process. Synthetic diamonds are not to be confused with simulated diamonds or imitation diamonds which are really just crystals such as cubic zirconia — synthetic diamonds are genuine laboratory-grown diamonds and share diamond’s core physical and chemical properties.
Two processes used to create synthetic diamonds
Currently, in the UK, two methods exist for creating cultivated diamonds:
- High-Pressure, High-Temperature (HPHT): This process is the one that is most like how diamonds are created underground. In this method, a machine is used that mimics the conditions found deep within the Earth. Carbon is heated to more than 2000℃ and pressures in excess of 60,000 atmospheres are applied to create a diamond from the pure carbon sample.
- Chemical-Vapor Deposition (CVD): This method does not require the pressurized conditions used in HPHT. Instead, a pure carbon sample or a tiny piece of diamond is placed inside a machine within a chamber. Natural gas is added to the chamber and zapped with microwaves. As a result, carbon atoms fall and deposit on the sample and a diamond is grown.