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Detection of nitrogen at {100} platelets in diamond

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Abstract

Platelets in type Ia diamond were first directly observed with transmission electron microscopy by Evans and Phaal1 in 1962. Considerable controversy still exists over their structure and chemical composition. One of the earliest models of the platelet structure was that proposed by Lang2 in which nitrogen, the major impurity in type Ia diamonds, is segregated into plate-like structures, only two atoms thick, lying on the cube planes. Later evidence seemed to favour interstitial carbon as the major component of the platelets3–5, although more recent evidence from the production of platelets in synthetic diamond6 again points to nitrogen as forming an important constituent. High resolution electron microscopy also supports this view7,8. Here we report for the first time the direct observation of nitrogen at platelets using the technique of electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cavendish Laboratory, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK

    S. D. Berger & S. J. Pennycook

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  1. S. D. Berger
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  2. S. J. Pennycook
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Berger, S., Pennycook, S. Detection of nitrogen at {100} platelets in diamond. Nature 298, 635–637 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/298635a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/298635a0

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