Flawed Diamonds Could Help Advance New Technology

Phys.org reported that researchers led by Vanessa Huxter, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona, have made “the first detailed observation” about how energy travels through diamonds that have nitrogen-vacancy centers, a type of crystal structure deftect. Such diamonds may be able to push forward new technology like quantum computing.

As quoted in the market news:

Defect centers are locations in the otherwise repetitive lattice of carbon atoms where other elements have taken the spot of carbon atoms. Such defects create, for example, canary diamonds in which nitrogen atoms have replaced carbon atoms. In the case of a nitrogen vacancy, a nitrogen atom sits next to an empty slot where a carbon atom is missing.

These ‘flaws’ result in unexpected and attractive properties that have put such diamonds in the spotlight as promising candidates for a variety of technological advances.

The findings, published online in Nature Physics, could help scientists better understand the properties of these diamonds, which have potential applications ranging from quantum computing to the imaging of individual atoms in molecules.

Click here to read the full Phys.org report.