Lab-grown diamonds help find particle
by jacquie_dealmeida | November 21, 2012 9:00 am
Synthetic diamonds played a key role in the so-called ‘God particle’ research that claims to have proven the existence of a subatomic particle thought to be the universe’s fundamental building block.
Made by De Beers subsidiary Element Six, the electronic-grade lab-grown diamonds were used to monitor the beam generated by the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the particles created in the collision. They were also used to protect against beam-induced radiation damage produced by the experiment, which set out to search for Higgs boson, the particle that gives all matter its mass.
“The use of synthetic diamond sensors was essential for a smooth operation of the LHC and the collection of high-quality data by the LHC experiments, making the observation of the new particle possible,” said professor Wolfgang Lohmann from Germany’s Brandenburg University of Technology.
Researchers turned to chemical vapour deposition (CVD) stones, as they were shown to be the most robust material that could withstand the harsh, high-radiation environment created by the experiment, as well as react almost instantaneously to protect the experiment’s advanced measurement systems. The diamonds were grown using less than one part per billion of boron, and less than 50 parts per billion of nitrogen, making them highly pure and an ideal material when dealing with radiation.
“We are incredibly proud of the small, but important, contribution our synthetic diamond has made in helping experiments that are enabling the team at CERN realize their recent discoveries,” said Adrian Wilson, head of Element Six’s technologies division.
“We congratulate CERN and wish them continued success in their fundamental work with the Large Hadron Collider.”
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