更純淨更便宜! 英國實驗室'種'出鑽石!

Diamonds indistinguishable from the real thing have been grown by scientists at Cardiff University in the UK - in a process which could undermine world gems markets.

近日，英國加的夫大學的科學家“種”出了與真品真假難辨的鑽石，這種工序會顛覆世界寶石市場。

The precious stones can be created in a matter of days in a breakthrough that could revolutionise the business -- or see the value of gemstones plummet.

這些珍貴的石頭在短短几天內就能創造出來，這可能會是一個徹底改變行業的突破性的進展--或者可以使得寶石的價值暴跌。

And the raw ingredients to create the diamonds are widely available as they are just methane and hydrogen gas.

而製造這種鑽石的原料隨處可見，因爲它們只是甲烷和氫氣。

The pioneering process is being championed by Professor Oliver Williams of Cardiff University, who made the discovery by making sheets into semi conductors.

這種開創性工序受到了加的夫大學教授奧利夫·威廉姆斯的推崇，威廉姆斯通過將紙張製成半導體發現了這道工序。

Professor Williams starts his process by putting a small seed into a vacuum chamber. He then adds methane and hydrogen gas. Both substances are heated to 3,000 C.

威廉姆斯教授開始先將一粒小“種子”放入真空室，再將被加熱至3000攝氏度的甲烷和氫氣注入其中。

The gases break up and carbon and methane are deposited on the seed diamond. The carbon then mimics the structure of a diamond.

這些氣體分解後，碳和甲烷沉積在種子鑽石上，之後碳會模擬鑽石的結構。

"The grown diamonds are purer than anything you would see in nature. With the best growers, less than one atom in a trillion is an impurity," Williams said.

威廉姆斯稱：“種出的鑽石的純度比人們在自然界見過的任何物質都高。最好的‘種植手’生產的鑽石，每一萬億原子中只有一顆不純。”