Microrelief of Rounded Diamond Crystals as an Indicator of the Redox Conditions of Their Resorption in a Kimberlite Melt

We conducted a detailed study of the morphology of diamond crystals partially dissolved in a water-bearing kimberlite melt at pressure of 6.3 GPa, temperature of 1400 °C, and two oxygen fugacities (fO2) corresponding to the Re-ReO2 buffer and near the magnetite–hematite (MH) buffer. The triangular etch pits on the {111} faces, which formed during experimental diamond dissolution, were found to completely correspond to negative trigons on natural diamond crystals in the shape and sidewalls inclination angle. Furthermore, two experimental fO2 values were associated with two relief types of the rounded tetrahexahedroid surfaces typical of natural rounded diamonds. Therefore, the surface microrelief on rounded natural diamond crystals was concluded to be an indicator of the redox conditions of natural diamond resorption

Experimental Modeling of Diamond Resorption during Mantle Metasomatism

The morphology of resorbed diamond crystals is a valuable source of information on the composition and ascent rate of kimberlite magmas, as well as on possible redox conditions in protolith. Previously, diamond resorption was thoroughly investigated at P–T–fO2 parameters of the kimberlite magma ascent. In this study, we investigated diamond resorption using unaltered group I kimberlite and model carbonatite at P–T–fO2 parameters that are typical of the peridotite source of kimberlite magmas in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle. An analysis of previous studies made it possible to determine the rate of diamond octahedron transformation into a spherical tetrahexahedron depending on the composition of the carbonate–silicate melt. It was shown that the rate of diamond resorption at 6.3 GPa increases in all the investigated systems as fO2 and temperature rise. There is a steady decrease in the diamond resorption rate as pressure increases from 1 GPa to 6.3 GPa. The morphology comparison of the experimentally produced samples with natural diamonds is indicative of the significant contribution of metasomatic alteration of protolith by the oxidized agent and at the initial stages of kimberlite magma ascent to the resorption of natural diamonds

Effect of Rare-Earth Element Oxides on Diamond Crystallization in Mg-Based Systems

Diamond crystallization in Mg-R2O3-C systems (R = Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, and Yb) was studied at 7.8 GPa and 1800 °C. It was found that rare-earth oxide additives in an amount of 10 wt % did not significantly affect both the degree of graphite-to-diamond conversion and crystal morphology relative to the Mg-C system. The effect of higher amounts of rare-earth oxide additives on diamond crystallization was studied for a Mg-Sm2O3-C system with a Sm2O3 content varied from 0 to 50 wt %. It was established that with an increase in the Sm2O3 content in the growth system, the degree of graphite-to-diamond conversion decreased from 80% at 10% Sm2O3 to 0% at 40% Sm2O3. At high Sm2O3 contents (40 and 50 wt %), instead of diamond, mass crystallization of metastable graphite was established. The observed changes in the degree of the graphite-to-diamond conversion, the changeover of diamond crystallization to the crystallization of metastable graphite, and the changes in diamond crystal morphology with increasing the Sm2O3 content attested the inhibiting effect of rare-earth oxides on diamond crystallization processes in the Mg-Sm-O-C system. The crystallized diamonds were studied by a suite of optical spectroscopy techniques, and the major characteristics of their defect and impurity structures were revealed. For diamond crystals produced with 10 wt % and 20 wt % Sm2O3 additives, a specific photoluminescence signal comprising four groups of lines centered at approximately 580, 620, 670, and 725 nm was detected, which was tentatively assigned to emission characteristic of Sm3+ ions

Crystallization of Diamond from Melts of Europium Salts

Diamond crystallization in melts of europium salts (Eu2(C2O4)3·10H2O, Eu2(CO3)3·3H2O, EuCl3, EuF3, EuF2) at 7.8 GPa and in a temperature range of 1800–2000 °C was studied for the first time. Diamond growth on seed crystals was realized at a temperature of 2000 °C. Spontaneous diamond nucleation at these parameters was observed only in an Eu oxalate melt. The maximum growth rate in the europium oxalate melt was 22.5 μm/h on the {100} faces and 12.5 μm/h on the {111} faces. The diamond formation intensity in the tested systems was found to decrease in the following sequence: Eu2(C2O4)3·10H2O > Eu2(CO3)3·3H2O > EuF3 > EuF2 = EuCl3. Diamond crystallization occurred in the region of stable octahedral growth in melts of Eu3+ salts and in the region of cubo-octahedral growth in an EuF2 melt. The microrelief of faces was characterized by specific features, depending on the system composition and diamond growth rate. In parallel with diamond growth, the formation of metastable graphite in the form of independent crystals and inclusions in diamond was observed. From the spectroscopic characterization, it was found that diamonds synthesized from Eu oxalate contain relatively high concentrations of nitrogen (about 1000−1200 ppm) and show weak PL features due to inclusions of Eu-containing species

Synthetic single crystal diamonds for X-ray optics

In the manuscript we report on characterization of single-crystalline (111) plates prepared from type Ib diamonds with nitrogen content of 100-150 ppm and (100) plates prepared from IIa diamond by means of high-resolution rocking curve imaging (RCI). Contrary to a common opinion about intrinsic poor diffraction quality of type Ib diamonds, RCI showed the presence of nearly defect-free areas of several mm2 in the central part of the (111)-oriented diamond plates. In comparison with the (100)-oriented IIa diamond plates prepared by the same HPHT setup the Ib diamonds possess better diffraction quality. The observed broadening of the rocking curves associates with the cutting and polishing processes, causing strains around the edges of the plates and rare defects. An improvement of preparation technique will thus allow to make single-crystalline diamond plates for Laue and Bragg monochromators and beam splitters from type Ib diamond with areas large enough to be used as wavefront-preserving optical elements at 4th generation synchrotron facilities. Contrary to a common opinion about intrinsically poor diffraction quality of type I diamonds, RCI showed the presence of nearly defect-free areas of several mm2 in the central part of the diamond plates. The observed broadening of the rocking curves results from the cutting and polishing processes, causing strains around the edges of the plates and rare defects. An improvement of preparation technique will thus allow to make single-crystalline diamond plates for Laue and Bragg monochromators and beam splitters from type Ib material with areas large enough to be used as optical elements at 4th generation synchrotron facilities