Abstract
Growth process of diamond in the solvent method is understood on the basis of pseudo-binary eutectic system between the solvent and diamond. In the pressure region where thermodynamic stabilities of graphite and diamond are nearly balanced, nearly perfect graphite is recrystallized in competition with diamond nucleation. This phenomenon is utilized for controlling the nucleation density of diamond in actual production of diamond particles. In the growth of large single crystal under temperature gradient in the solvent, the growth rate is controlled by the carbon transport in the solvent. Large and high quality crystals are grown under consideration of the mechanism of forming inclusion of solvent, reasonable limitation of the growth rate for avoiding the solvent inclusion, suitable crystal direction and lattice perfection of the seed and selection of the solvent composition. Crystals weighing around 10 carats are grown for several hundred hours.
