Chemical element hydrogen and deuterium). Thus, all carbon isotopes have nearly identical chemical properties because they all have six protons and six electrons, even though carbon atoms may, for example, have 6 or 8 neutrons. That is why the atomic number, rather than mass number or atomic weight, is considered the identifying characteristic of a chemical element. The symbol for atomic number is "Z". Isotopes are atoms of the same element (that is, with the same number of protons in their atomic nucleus), but having "different" numbers of neutrons. Thus, for example, there are three main isotopes of carbon. All carbon atoms
Crystallographic defects in diamond measure the defect concentrations in diamond. In synthetic diamond grown by the high-pressure high-temperature synthesis or chemical vapor deposition, defects with symmetry lower than tetrahedral align to the direction of the growth. Such alignment has also been observed in gallium arsenide and thus is not unique to diamond. Various elemental analyses of diamond reveal a wide range of impurities. They mostly originate, however, from inclusions of foreign materials in diamond, which could be nanometer-small and invisible in an optical microscope. Also, virtually any element can be hammered into diamond by ion implantation. More essential are elements which can be introduced