Diamond CPU's... goodbye silicon?

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
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WIRED - Sept. 2003

Relavent background info... we are now able to produce absolutely pure yellow diamonds.

Info relavent to the computer industry...

"Diamond, it turns out, is a geek?s best friend. Not only is it the hardest substance known, it also has the highest thermal conductivity ? tremendous heat can pass through it without causing damage. Today?s speed microprocessors run hot ? at upwards of 200 degrees Fahrenheit. In Fact, they can?t go much faster without failing. Diamond microchips, on the other hand, could handle much higher temperatures, allowing them to run at speeds that would liquefy ordinary silicon. But manufacturers have been loath even to consider using the precious material, because it has never been possible to produce large diamond wafers affordably. With the arrival of Gemesis, the Florida-based company, and Apollo Diamond, in Boston, that is changing. Both startups plan to use the diamond jewlry business to finance their attempt to reshape the semiconducting world."

It'll probably be a while before we'd see this. But... it is a promising idea... since in another part of the article they say a diamond can be made for less than $100 using this technology.

Convo from the article...

Weingarten: "This is a very rare stone. Yellow diamonds of this color are very hard to find. It is probably worth 10, maybe 15 thousand dollars."
Joshua: "I have two more exactly like it in my pocket"
Weingarten: "These are cubic zirconium?"
Joshua: "No, they're real, but they were made by a machine in Florida for less than a hundred dollars."
Weingarten: "Unless they can be detected, these stones will bankrupt the industry."

:D
 

Slappy00

Golden Member
Jun 17, 2002
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Just what I need : Some bling-bling in my new p4....

Man: "I know we have been going out for a long time and well I have been thinking that you need, you know something special..."
Man: (whips-out small black box)
Woman: *gasps*
Man: (opens case) "You can over-clock the hell outta this one W00t!"
 

Slappy00

Golden Member
Jun 17, 2002
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Manufacturing diamands is nothing new though, its making it cost-effective that is the challenge... Also manufacturing-grade diamonds and gem-quality diamands are not the same. Further the diamands made for semiconductors will not be large in individual size, this is my guess as to how they make em cheap...
 

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
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Originally posted by: Slappy00
Manufacturing diamands is nothing new though, its making it cost-effective that is the challenge... Also manufacturing-grade diamonds and gem-quality diamands are not the same. Further the diamands made for semiconductors will not be large in individual size, this is my guess as to how they make em cheap...

Up until now that has been true. But this company in Florida is able to produce "gem-quality" diamonds now. Did you not see the convo I posted? =) These are not industrial diamonds used on the edges of saw blades and crap like that... these are perfect yellow diamonds being produced for less than $100.
 

Shimmishim

Elite Member
Feb 19, 2001
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Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Originally posted by: Slappy00
Manufacturing diamands is nothing new though, its making it cost-effective that is the challenge... Also manufacturing-grade diamonds and gem-quality diamands are not the same. Further the diamands made for semiconductors will not be large in individual size, this is my guess as to how they make em cheap...

Up until now that has been true. But this company in Florida is able to produce "gem-quality" diamonds now. Did you not see the convo I posted? =) These are not industrial diamonds used on the edges of saw blades and crap like that... these are perfect yellow diamonds being produced for less than $100.

yeah i saw a pbs special on this...

i guess as long as people don't try to sell them as being real ... it'll be okay! but from what i understood, they are structurally almost identical but they have weird properties like fluorescing under a black light...

 

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
18,368
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"At the moment, the company is producing 10 millimeter wafers, but predicts it will reach an inch square by year's end and 4 inchs in five years. The price per carat: about $5." (CVD diamonds grown using chemical vapor deposition by Apollo Diamond)

Apparently these CVD diamonds are identified because they're as close to 100% pure as people have ever seen... and natural diamonds have impurities in them... because it's near impossible to get that level of purity by chance in nature.
 

pspada

Platinum Member
Dec 23, 2002
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Yea, they have a different molecular structure than a naturally occuring gem, which causes them to reflect light internally, causing them to fluoresce.
 

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
18,368
11
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Originally posted by: pspada
Yea, they have a different molecular structure than a naturally occuring gem, which causes them to reflect light internally, causing them to fluoresce.

From what I gather from this article... that's not true for CVD's.

*EDIT* I'd type out the whole article for you... but it's about 6 pages of small print, and I don't feel like spending that much time doing that, lol.
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
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The thermal conductivity of diamond is spectacular, that's for sure. Each carbon atom is directly linked to four others, so a perfect diamond is basically one very, very large molecule and transmits heat like crazy.