Isotopically pure diamond 98.9% C and 1.1% C. This is useful for heat sinks for the semiconductor industry. Isotopically pure C diamond layers 20 micrometers thick are used as stress sensors due to the advantageous Raman spectroscopy properties of C. Isotopically pure diamond An isotopical pure diamond is a type of diamond that is composed entirely of one isotope of carbon. Isotopically pure diamonds have been manufactured from either the more common carbon isotope with mass number 12 (abbreviated as C) or the less common C isotope. Compared to natural diamonds that are composed of a mixture of C and C isotopes, isotopically
Synthetic diamond "nanocrystalline" and "microcrystalline" diamond, respectively. Synthetic diamond is the hardest known material, where hardness is defined as resistance to indentation. The hardness of synthetic diamond depends on its purity, crystalline perfection and orientation: hardness is higher for flawless, pure crystals oriented to the <nowiki>[</nowiki>111<nowiki>]</nowiki> direction (along the longest diagonal of the cubic diamond lattice). Nanocrystalline diamond produced through CVD diamond growth can have a hardness ranging from 30% to 75% of that of single crystal diamond, and the hardness can be controlled for specific applications. Some synthetic single-crystal diamonds and HPHT nanocrystalline diamonds (see hyperdiamond) are harder than any known