Abstract A method for growing diamonds in the form of diamond dust, industrial grade diamonds and the like, by epitaxy comprising the steps of providing a diamond seed crystal, contacting said diamond seed crystal with a hydrocarbon having from one to about five carbon atoms in an environment consisting of at least 95 percent hydrogen gas by volume and about no more than 5 percent of the said hydrocarbon by volume, maintaining the temperature of the reaction environment in the range of from about 1,100* C. to about 1,700* C., and reacting the said diamond seed crystal with the said hydrocarbon and the hydrogen gas in the presence of a catalyst being a member selected from the group consisting of platinum and paladium, thereby causing said hydrocarbon to form diamond carbon and deposit it on the surface of said diamond seed crystal while simultaneously causing less stable forms of carbon also formed from said hydrocarbon to react with the hydrogen gas in the presence of the catalyst and the temperature conditions to form additional quantities of hydrocarbon, said process continuing until the desired diamond growth has been achieved.
Inventors
👤 E Vickery
Bibliographic Details
Application Number—
JurisdictionUS
Data Sourcegoogle_patents
Last Synchronized2026-11-04 22:53
CPC Classifications
C; C01; C01B; C01B32/00; C01B32/25; C01B32/26
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 6
Claim 1
Independent Claim
178 words
A continuous process for growing diamond on a diamond seed crystal comprising the steps of providing a diamond seed crystal, contacting said diamond seed crystal with a hydrocarbon having from one to about five carbon atoms in an environment consisting of at least 95 percent hydrogen gas by volume and about no more than 5 percent of the said hydrocarbon by volume, maintaining the temperature of the reaction environment in the range of from about 1,100* to about 1,700* C., and reacting the said diamond seed crystal with the said hydrocarbon and the hydrogen gas in the presence of a catalyst being a member selected from the group consisting of platinum and paladium, thereby causing said hydrocarbon to form diamond carbon and deposit it on the surface of said diamond seed crystal while simultaneously causing less stable forms of carbon also formed from said hydrocarbon to react with the hydrogen gas in the presence of the catalyst and the temperature conditions to form additional quantities of hydrocarbon, said process continuing until the desired diamond growth has been achieved.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
178 words
A continuous process for growing diamond on a diamond seed crystal comprising the steps of providing a diamond seed crystal, contacting said diamond seed crystal with a hydrocarbon having from one to about five carbon atoms in an environment consisting of at least 95 percent hydrogen gas by volume and about no more than 5 percent of the said hydrocarbon by volume, maintaining the temperature of the reaction environment in the range of from about 1,100* to about 1,700* C., and reacting the said diamond seed crystal with the said hydrocarbon and the hydrogen gas in the presence of a catalyst being a member selected from the group consisting of platinum and paladium, thereby causing said hydrocarbon to form diamond carbon and deposit it on the surface of said diamond seed crystal while simultaneously causing less stable forms of carbon also formed from said hydrocarbon to react with the hydrogen gas in the presence of the catalyst and the temperature conditions to form additional quantities of hydrocarbon, said process continuing until the desired diamond growth has been achieved.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
23 words
The process as set forth in claim 1 above, wherein said hydrocarbons comprise straight chain hydrocarbons having from one to five carbon atoms.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
14 words
The process as set forth in claim 1 above, wherein said catalyst comprises platinum.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
39 words
The process as set forth in claim 3 above, wherein said platinum catalyst is formed from platinum wire the ends of which form contact leads for connection to a power source thereby to function as a platinum catalyst heater.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
The process as set forth in claim 1 above, wherein the gaseous environment comprises 95 percent hydrogen gas and 5% of a straight chained hydrocarbon having from one to five carbon atoms.