Diamonds, usually forged in overwhelming heat and pressure
miles deep in the Earth’s mantle, have now been made at atmospheric pressure
and 100 degrees Celcius—the boiling point of water.
No one will be wearing these diamonds on their ring finger,
however. They are nanodiamonds, just two or three nanometers across, invisible
to all but electron microscopes. But their properties could be as alluring as
crown jewels. Unlike the other form of carbon, graphite, diamond is a
semiconductor, similar to silicon, which is the dominant material in the
electronics industry, and gallium arsenide, which is used in lasers and other
optical devices.