Material properties of diamond to a very large kinetic energy barrier, diamonds are metastable; they will not decay into graphite under normal conditions. Material properties of diamond Diamond is the allotrope of carbon in which the carbon atoms are arranged in the specific type of cubic lattice called diamond cubic. Diamond is an optically isotropic crystal that is transparent to opaque. Diamond is the hardest naturally occurring material known. Yet, due to important structural weaknesses, diamond's toughness is only fair to good. The precise tensile strength of diamond is unknown, however strength up to 60 GPa has been observed, and it could be as
Synthetic diamond Synthetic diamond A synthetic diamond (also known as a laboratory-grown diamond, cultured diamond, or cultivated diamond) is a diamond produced by a controlled process, as contrasted with a natural diamond created by geological processes or an imitation diamond made of non-diamond material that appears similar to a diamond. Synthetic diamond is also widely known as HPHT diamond or CVD diamond, after the two common production methods (referring to the high-pressure high-temperature and chemical vapor deposition crystal formation methods, respectively). While the term "synthetic" may sometimes be associated by consumers with imitation products, synthetic diamonds are made of the same material