EVALUATION OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC DIAMONDS IN LABORATORY CONDITIONS

Abstract

Synthetic diamonds have begun to be used as an alternative to natural diamonds, both in jewelery and in industrial applications. Given the many remarkable properties of synthetic diamonds, it is not surprising that it is not only the jewelery material, but also has extensive industrial applications in thermal management, cutting tools, wear-resistant coatings, optical components and possibly semiconductor electronic devices. The resulting demand has supported active research and development programs on synthetic diamond growth worldwide. In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the difference between natural and synthetic diamonds in laboratory conditions. One of the diamonds used in the research is natural and the other two are synthetic diamonds produced in the laboratory. In this context, three stones were examined in the laboratory. The information obtained by the FTIR device of the stones whose gemological analysis was completed was also photographed. According to the findings, when the infrared spectrum images were examined, it was seen that natural diamond gave high peaks at 171.99 nm, 415.13 nm and 440.5 nm. The peak values in HPHT diamonds are 174.9 nm, 428.5 nm, 560.7 nm and 883.37 nm. In CVD diamonds, these values were determined as 171.41 nm, 428.4 nm and 739.3 nm. The reason for the difference is the arrangement of the atoms, the density, the diamond lattice structure and the absorption variability depending on the growth structures. As a result of the research, it is not possible to distinguish natural and synthetic diamonds from each other in a simple way without examining them in the laboratory. The difference between natural and synthetic diamonds with the same physical and chemical properties should be determined using advanced spectroscopic devices by applying appropriate techniques and methods.