Almaz (from ancient Greek ἀδάμας - "indestructible") is the hardest, most corrosion-resistant, the most heat-conducting mineral, but this is not the point, and not even about its wonderful jewelry properties. Let us turn to Almaz as … the most valuable semiconductor of the future, then we will consider the possibilities of obtaining it from a cast-iron heating battery, and finally, we will understand that this valuable mineral is not millions of years old! And as my readers guess, hydrogen is also indispensable here!
Super diamonds - semiconductors
Diamond is a mineral, cubic allotropic form of carbon. Under normal conditions, it is metastable, that is, it can exist indefinitely. In a vacuum or in an inert gas at elevated temperatures (2000 ° C) it gradually turns into graphite, in air, diamond burns out at 850-1000 ° C. The hardest incompressible mineral, the highest thermal conductivity 900-2300 W / (mK), high refractive index and dispersion.
Due to the resulting thin gas film, diamond has a very low coefficient of friction against metal in air. Transmits a wide range of electromagnetic waves, begins to glow under the influence of X-ray and cathode radiation. X-ray luminescence is widely used in practice to extract diamonds from rocks. High transparency and high refractive index cause the light rays to be reflected many times inside the crystal, creating a unique "play of light", which makes the diamond a most valuable gem.
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Each carbon atom in the structure of a diamond is located in the center of a tetrahedron, the vertices of which are the four nearest neighbors, which explains the highest hardness of diamond.
Due to its tetravalent structure, diamonds can be used as substitutes for germanium and silicon crystals in semiconductors. If a germanium transistor can be used at temperatures up to 75 ° C, a silicon transistor - up to 125 ° C, then diamond transistors can be used at temperatures up to 500 ° C! Blue diamonds are indispensable for measuring the slightest changes in temperature with a sensitivity of 0.002 ° C, and along with high acid resistance and heat resistance, they have no competitors in this area!
The origin of diamonds
Diamonds crystallize in the mantle at a depth of 200 km or more at a pressure of 4 GPa and a temperature of 1000-1300 ° C and are carried to the surface as a result of explosive processes accompanying the formation of kimberlite pipes.
Small diamonds were found in meteorites in significant quantities. They are of very ancient, pre-solar origin. They also form in giant meteorite craters, where the remelted rocks contain significant amounts of fine crystalline diamond. A well-known deposit of this type is the Popigai astroblema in the north of Siberia.
The process of diamond formation from the point of view of the hydride Earth theory
The hydrogen released from the metal hydride of the core reaches the upper mantle, where it reacts with iron-carbon compounds, displacing the latter in its pure form. If the external conditions (pressure and temperature) correspond, then the carbon turns into diamond.
An illustrative experiment on growing diamonds in a hydrogen environment was staged by our compatriot V. N. Larin back in the eighties. Usually artificial diamonds are produced from graphite at a temperature of 2000-3000 ° C and a pressure of 100-200 thousand atmospheres. It is very expensive. Vladimir Nikolaevich developed the "temperature-pressure" mode. He placed a piece of a cast iron battery in a hydrogen atmosphere under a press, where at a temperature of 650 ° C hydrogen displaced free carbon from the cast iron, which turned into diamonds at a pressure of 18 thousand atmospheres.
The results were reflected in the article "Diamonds from a Battery" by V. N. Larin [Spark N22 (4649) from 02.07.2000]
In the described process of diamond formation, there are no fundamental disagreements with the generally accepted scientific theory. Except for the origin of hydrogen itself, which in the classical sense is considered a decay product of organic compounds. Most geologists associate the formation of diamonds in the mantle due to, for example, the decay of hydrocarbons: CH4 → C + 2H2, but we understand that the subduction zones through which organics could hypothetically enter the mantle are in the “Pacific Ring of Fire”, and diamond deposits have a completely different geography!
Geological and geochemical data allowed the academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Professor Alexander Portnov, to propose a hypothesis about the origin of diamondiferous kimberlite pipes when the platforms are "pierced" by giant hydrogen-methane "bubbles" associated with the degassing of the Earth. In this case, diamond crystals appear not in the mantle, but in pipes, with a decrease in the mantle pressure and partial oxidation of methane. Unlike low-quality diamonds obtained for technical purposes from molten metals, diamonds from methane are distinguished by their purity and transparency. There is no doubt that the De Beers company spared no money to buy up interesting gas fusion projects in order to hide them forever in their safes.
Earthly diamonds are not millions of years old
Modern science dates diamonds to millions (some billions) of years. But many of them contain isotopes of carbon 14, and inside the crystal!
As you know, the radioisotope carbon 14C is subject to β-decay with a half-life T1 / 2 = 5730 ± 40 years, the decay constant λ = 1.20910−4 year − 1
This means that this method cannot date events older than ten half-lives, it turns out about 57.5 thousand years (the authors of the method also wrote about this). Therefore, if we have any internal (without external impurities) inclusions containing 14C, be it diamonds, granites, coal or petrified wood, we can immediately state that these minerals are less than 60 thousand years old (otherwise all carbon 14 would have decayed completely)!
Natural black diamonds
These very rare monocrystals really have a natural black color thanks to the inclusions of graphite. However, there are also crystals with a dark, dense gray, brown or green color, which in reflected light will look like black. They are opaque or semi-transparent, mostly with various inclusions that complicate their processing. But if the diamond has an even color and minimal internal defects, then a black diamond of excellent quality can be obtained from it.
Black carbonado diamonds
Carbonado is a polycrystalline formation formed by many tightly welded tiny diamonds in a siliceous base. The adhesion of crystals is inhomogeneous, therefore carbonado has a porous structure. It contains graphite and iron compounds - hematite and magnetite, which cause a dark color. The large number of inclusions makes the carbonado opaque. The mutual arrangement of diamond crystals does not reflect light, but rather absorbs it, depriving the formation of the famous diamond brilliance or "game". The peculiarities of the polycrystalline structure determine the extraordinary strength of carbonado, in contrast to ordinary diamonds, which are quite fragile.
A group of American scientists from Brookhaven National Laboratory, led by Stephen Haggerty and Mark Chance, believe that carbonadoes were formed when a supernova exploded in a vacuum. Researchers have found some rare compounds of titanium, nitrogen and hydrogen in black diamond samples, which until now have only been found in meteorites. Just imagine: diamond rain over Brazil and the Central African Republic, where black diamonds are now found.
Imagine: a supernova explosion, colossal pressure and … temperature! Oh, there is a mismatch, the diamond melts at only 4000 degrees Celsius. This means that the carbonado formation zone was at the periphery of the explosion of the star, but then what about the pressure in a vacuum?
Isn't it easier to assume the terrestrial origin of carbonado? Yes, it is not so colorful, alas, without a supernova explosion and a diamond meteor shower! In an ordinary terrestrial volcano, where there are always flows of methane and hydrogen emanating from the bowels of the planet, groups of small diamonds are formed, which in the process of crystallization grow together into a druse. Titanium, nitrogen and hydrogen are not uncommon in volcanic rocks!
In 1993, carbonado was found in avachites, on the eastern slope of Avachinsky volcano in Kamchatka. I consider such finds not accidental in terrestrial conditions, in the light of VN Larin's Theory of Hydride Earth.
Enterprising Americans, having analyzed carbonado, immediately assessed the prospects of using superaliamonds in the electronics industry as a replacement for silicon.
A technology was developed for producing superaliamonds: chemical deposition (CVD) from the gas phase at low pressure! A small diamond grain is placed in a vacuum chamber at a pressure below atmospheric, the chamber is heated, then methane is pumped into it, and then, well, how could it be without it, hydrogen. Microwaves are then created, causing a cloud of carbon atoms to be released and deposited on the grain. In this way, you can grow not only the usual crystals, but also a diamond plate less than a millimeter thick! These plates conduct electricity, have unique thermal conductivity and withstand high temperatures. They make perfect microcircuits with a high degree of integration and resistant to overheating!
The field of application of such carbonade materials is wide: from non-wearing artificial joints to nanoresonators (the basis of all acoustic equipment) and superchips. I am sure that the future generation of computers will have in their hearts a diamond processor, not a silicon one, made using hydrogen technology!
The priority of obtaining diamonds from the gas phase and plasma belongs to a team of researchers at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Deryagin B. V., Fedoseev D. V., Spitsyn B. V.). They used a gas environment consisting of 95% hydrogen and 5% carbon-containing gas (propane, acetylene), as well as high-frequency plasma concentrated on the substrate, where the diamond itself is formed (CVD process). Gas temperature from + 700 … 850 ° C at a pressure thirty times less than atmospheric.
I would very much like that in this breakthrough technology, which is based on the discoveries of our institutes and compatriots of the 60-90s of the XX century, we would not lag behind the United States with the implementation of these developments, which promise colossal dividends!
Author: Igor Dabakhov