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Diamond Structure
The diamond cubic crystal structure is a repeating pattern of 8 atoms that certain materials may adopt as they solidify. While the first known example was diamond, other elements in group 14 also adopt this structure, including α-tin, the semiconductors silicon and germanium, and silicon–germanium alloys in any proportion. There are also crystals, such as the high-temperature form of cristobalite, which have a similar structure, with one kind of atom (such as silicon in cristobalite) at the positions of carbon atoms in diamond but with another kind of atom (such as oxygen) halfway between those (see :Minerals in space group 227). Although often called the diamond lattice, this structure is not a lattice in the technical sense of this word used in mathematics. Crystallographic structure Diamond's cubic structure is in the Fdm space group (space group 227), which follows the face-centered cubic Bravais lattice. The lattice describes the repeat pattern; for diamond cubic cry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diamond Cubic-F Lattice Animation
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, but diamond is metastable and converts to it at a negligible rate under those conditions. Diamond has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any natural material, properties that are used in major industrial applications such as cutting and polishing tools. They are also the reason that diamond anvil cells can subject materials to pressures found deep in the Earth. Because the arrangement of atoms in diamond is extremely rigid, few types of impurity can contaminate it (two exceptions are boron and nitrogen). Small numbers of defects or impurities (about one per million of lattice atoms) color diamond blue (boron), yellow (nitrogen), brown (defects), green (radiation exposure), purple, pink, orange, or red. Diamond also has a very ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
