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Natural and Synthetic Formation
Diamonds are formed when carbon is exposed to extremely high temperatures and pressures for a long period of time. The ranges for these fall between 900 and 1400 degrees Celsius and five to six gigapascals (GPa) of pressure. Naturally this process occurs deep in the Earth, 60 to 120 miles below the continental crust, or an imaginary boundary called the granite-diamond equilibrium boundary, where liquid nitrogen is converted into diamonds. They must form farther underground when under oceanic crusts because of the lower surface area. The longer a deposit of carbon is exposed to these high temperatures and pressure, the larger a diamond will grow. Diamonds are also grown synthetically in a process known as high pressure high temperature synthesis, which recreates in laboratories the environments in which diamonds grow under the surface of the Earth.
Hardness and Toughness
Diamonds are composed entirely of carbon atoms, which grow naturally in a tight, octahedral arrangement. A perfectly formed diamond, which is extremely rare to find, will have a shape that reflects that. The arrangement of the carbon atoms in a diamond gives the mineral the hardness it is known for. In fact, diamonds are the hardest, and also most scratch-resistant, naturally occurring mineral on earth, with a score of 10 on the Mohs hardness scale. Despite this feature, it is not the toughest material, because it has a tendency to fracture along cleavage planes.
Coloration
Pure diamonds contain only carbon atoms and yield a transparent, colorless tone. However, these types are rare, which means that many diamonds have impurities or structural defects in them. These imperfections, however, give diamonds a variety of other colors, which include blue, grey, green, orange, pink, red, black and brown. Type 1-B diamonds, for example, have nitrogen atoms dispersed among the carbon, which gives the diamond a yellowish color. Boron, on the other hand, will give a diamond a blue tint. Structural anomalies among the atoms can lend a red, brown or pink coloration.
Thermal and Electrical Conductivity
Diamonds are conductors of heat and can find use as thermal conductors in semiconductors, where they can prevent things like silicon from overheating. Synthetically made "pure" diamonds are typically used for that job because they have the best thermal conductivity of any diamond. Naturally occurring blue diamonds with boron impurities are better heat conductors than natural pure diamonds. Blue diamonds also differ from other diamonds in electrical conductivity. Most diamonds are electrical insulators, meaning that electrons cannot flow through them. However, blue diamonds are actually semiconductors, allowing them to transfer electrons through them very well.