Lab Grown Diamonds (LDGs)

Lab Grown Diamonds (LDGs)

News: During her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the government’s move to focus on lab grown diamonds.

Background:
 Customs duty on the seeds used in lab-grown diamond manufacturing will be reduced. The FM also announced a grant to IITs to facilitate the growth of LDGs in India.

What are LDGs?
 Lab grown diamonds are diamonds that are produced using specific technology which mimics the geological processes that grow natural diamonds.
 They are not the same as “diamond simulants” – LDGs are chemically, physically and optically diamond and thus are difficult to identify as “lab grown.”

How are LDGs produced?
 The most common (and cheapest) is the “High pressure, high temperature” (HPHT) method. Usually graphite is used as the “diamond seed” and when subjected to these extreme conditions, the relatively inexpensive form of carbon turns into one of the most expensive carbon forms.
 Other processes include “Chemical Vapor Deposition” (CVD) and explosive formation that creates what are known as “detonation nanodiamonds”.

What are they used for?
 LDGs are most often used for industrial purposes, in machines and tools. Their hardness and extra strength make them ideal for use as cutters.
 They can be used as a heat spreader for high-power laser diodes, laser arrays and high-power transistors.
 Lastly, as the Earth’s reserves of natural diamonds are depleted, LDGs are slowly replacing the prized gemstone in the jewelry industry. Crucially, like natural diamonds, LDGs undergo similar processes of polishing and cutting that are required to provide diamonds their characteristic lustre.
 Thus, growth in the production of LDGs is unlikely to affect India’s established diamond industry which undertakes these tasks.