Foreign media: A Chinese research team has successfully synthesized rare "meteorite diamonds" in the laboratory, resolving a 60-year debate over their existence and opening new directions for national defense and electronic fields.
In 1967, scientists first discovered hexagonal structure diamonds in the Canyon Diablo meteorite that fell in Arizona 49,000 years ago, speculating that they were formed by graphite under the high temperature and pressure during the impact with Earth. Although diamonds are all made of carbon atoms, their atomic arrangement can be cubic or hexagonal. The latter, due to its unique atomic stacking, is more difficult to replicate.
A Chinese team published their findings in the journal Nature on July 30, successfully preparing ultra-pure hexagonal diamond crystals with a size of 100 micrometers, providing the first conclusive evidence of their macroscopic existence. The study was completed by the Advanced Research Center for High Pressure Science and Technology and the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Previously, multiple attempts around the world resulted in cubic diamonds or mixed-phase samples, but no pure hexagonal structure was obtained.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1839949997674568/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.