PART 2:
Dr. Prelas (resume on webpage) returned my call last week and explained a little about the process and what might be a scenario for its commercialization. Again, as with the other people involved who have spoken to me about the company and the science involved, it was very good of him to take the time to enlighten me. Again a visit to the Rhombic site will provide some background on what is commonly known. What follows is a combination of what Dr. Prelas told me and the results of my own investigations.
The patented process of diffusing atoms into the interstices(voids)
that exist between the carbon atoms in diamond is achieved by heating the diamond to temperatures approaching 1000 degrees centigrade. At a
temperature of 1400 C a girl's best friend turns into graphite, commonly used in pencils that men sometimes use to write love letters with, prior to giving the girl the real thing. It may seem a little odd, but it is all in the nature of the crystaline bonds between the carbon atoms. When you buy a diamond you are paying for the bonds between the atoms not the atoms, maybe that is why it is so indicative of the bond between a man and a woman. That just came to mind. The effect of this gentle heating, as it is on most materials, is to
increase the thermal (heat) energy of the individual atoms. This translates into atomic motion and would lead to the distances between the individual atoms in the diamond increasing statistically, consequently the three dimensional voids in the crystal structure would also increase in size. Then, in close proximity to the diamond, along comes our friend from the IECNG and the evolution of the universe, the plasma, laser driven of course. Say we make a lithium plasma, this would be lithium atoms stripped of some or all of their negative electrons producing an ion with a positive charge. Next we apply an electric field which, when applied properly, has the effect
of drawing the lithium ions into the now larger spaces between the carbon atoms. The diamond is then cooled, trapping the lithium as the carbon atoms revert to their normal internuclear distances and the voids become smaller. Now there may be some over-simplifications and possible errors in the above, but in essence that is how I understand it.
So what is all the fuss about? Well the biggest fuss is the n-type
diamond discribed at the site, but there are more bread and butter
applications that may come to fruition faster.
First a little corporate struture. Rhombic has a wholly owned
susidiary called Rockford Technology Associates or Rockford Technology Corp. Rockford Technology Corp. owns 49% of Rockford Diamond Technology (RDT) the other 51% being owned by Ms. Lori Ballinger.
Mr. Larry Owen is the president of Rhombic Corp. and the president
of RDT. A brief resume' follows:
"Wm. Larry Owen, President, received a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Pepperdine University of California, and Masters of Education degree from the University of Southern California. After moving to Canada in l963, Mr. Owen was a founder of the New World Jade Company, and later President of International Phasor Telecom, a leading computer security firm during l982 to l985."
"RDT was formed in l993. The company employs 8 people. The business person is Lori Ballinger, the chief scientist is Dr. Galina Popovici, the manager of development is Dr. Steven Lin, the microwave technology person is Dr. Ziming He, the electronics technology person is Jorge Chicone, the diamond film technology person is Salim Khasiwinah, the
forced diffusion technology person is Jeff Sung, the advanced materials technology person is Rosemary S. Roberts."
RDT is the corporate entity that has acquired the rights to, and is
developing, the diamond technology. Last year RDT sucessfully demonstrated the potential of forced diffusion process (FDP). Now the commercialization process is about to get under way with Norton Diamond Film, one of the largest diamond film coatings companies in the world, as a partner in some aspects. This technology will impact a broad spectrum of the diamond film industry such as semi-conducters, tooling, wear parts, thermal management electrical isolation, sensors, cold cathodes, UV imaging, optical windows, coatings, X-ray windows, acoustical applications, and protective coatings. |
