Silicon Carbide and Diamond
Silicon Carbide (SiC) is a wide-bandgap semiconductor already widely used for electronic and photonic devices and hosts a number of colour centres.
Transforming the industry from the inside out, disruptive diamonds are redefining what “forever” means on an increasingly blighted planet whose heart and history have both been torn by the quest for vain brilliance. Born of science, LGDs like the nuovo diamond are ushering an era of zen to big billion businesses —going beyond the 4Cs of carat, cut, clarity and colour to provide increasingly sustainable, attainable and conscionable gems
While the ravages of time have left the (mined) diamond untouched in shape and form, the same cannot be said for its conflicted reputation. Once a symbol of the God-head, wealth, beauty, and power; today the (mined) diamond is a sore reminder of a tattered colonial past rife with unspeakable human rights violations, power destabilisations, civil wars, acts of terrorism and plunder.
In the era of informed consumers who want the unearthly brilliance sans the earthly violence associated with traditional diamond mining, the diamond of the future is being recreated like an heir of Venus —emerging from its invented chrysalis, one carat at a time in the heart of plasma reactors.
Having burrowed their way out of the earth’s core into the heart of science and onto the centre spreads of popular culture, millennial diamonds, much like their wearers, are more self-aware. In an era of “T-shirt and diamonds” where everything from fast food to fast fashion and fast jewellery is in the line of fire for ethical concerns, conflict diamonds are truly for never. But what is it that separates the haves from the have nots in the modern battle for conscience and ethics?
The answer is Zen —clean-origin, traceable, eco-friendly and ethical diamonds that are light on our collective conscience.
While conflict and blood diamonds are both in-situ as far as the human price of mined diamonds is concerned, LGDs are the complete opposite. Often conflated with each other, conflict diamonds and blood diamonds differ in definition —a well-meaning technicality that has often been exploited to smuggle unethically sourced baubles across global supply chains.
Essentially, conflict-free diamonds as per the Kimberly Process (sharing its name with the Kimberly mine in South Africa where Tiffany sourced its first-ever colonial-era diamond from) are defined as those that have been mined and sold to fund brutal wars within vulnerable geographies at the hands of violent political emissaries, power-hungry criminal war-heads or cult-of-personality dictators. Similarly, blood diamonds (popularised by the eponymous Oscar-winning film in the year 2006) are classified as those gained through massive human rights violations of worker and native rights —leading to the entire operation being tainted by a shroud of remotely enabled human suffering.
With such a macabre, racist and destructive history haunting its past, the mined diamond is slowly meeting its demise in the ‘Age of Aquarius’ where “science meets serendipity” and where transparency, accountability, awareness, information and agency are the key-words penetrating consumer consciousness.
It has been rightly said that there are no clean (mined) diamonds in a dirty system. While this should have been abundantly clear between decades of Hollywood-led awareness and the current rise in conscious capitalism, even the Kimberly Process (unanimously agreed to as a good solution to the problem back then) has been unable to eradicate the issue.
Even as the Kimberley Process has exponentially lowered the profitability and desirability of conflict diamonds reaching global consumers, it has not eradicated them. So-called “artisanal mining” which is estimated to be responsible for 15% of the world’s mined diamonds currently, is compliant with the Kimberly process and yet, because of constant human rights violations that fly under the radar, produces blood diamonds.
Unregulated and unchecked, even small scale mining whether alluvial or marine is still a major health hazard for workers —especially in poor and under-developed nations. Most of these mining contracts lock workers into modern slavery through poor working conditions, economic exploitation as well as missed on-site checks.
Oftentimes, the origins of conflict diamonds are obscured by concealing, mixing and circulating them with cargos of conflict-free diamonds. Moreover, these unclean mined diamonds can be cut, reshaped, or reclassified in order to further cloak the lineage. These numerous ways to get around the detection process, cast a large doubt of shadow upon the industry as a whole; all attempts to obfuscate the vicious and cruel history behind the glitter.
Thanks to the cultural awakening of the past few years, wellness as a virtue has not only enveloped the personal, but the commercial too. Where ethics were once about politics, they are now category truths and brand baselines in a consumer culture whose hearts and wallets are both gravitating towards a holistic approach to sustainability that goes hand in hand with human rights, labour rights, worker rights and environmental rights —exactly where conflict-free meets sound commerce.
Still, slowly; susceptibility has given way to sustainability —the latter now seen as fundamental to business strategy across the board. Despite the colossal network of mined diamonds, the 4IR is penetrating commercial cognisance to help phase out mined in favour of kind with a number of companies now realising that “a responsible business is a resilient business.”
It is increasingly apparent that contemporary consumers are interpreting the data and doing their research. They are investing in themselves by aligning their personal values to their purchase decisions. From climate communities to conscious diamantaires, all agree on the need to drive consumer participation. However, it is not easy, given behavioural change is slow to come about. The nuovo diamond will help facilitate this; and fast at that. With the help of science, LGDs like the nuovo diamond help close the gap between innovation and the consumer. They become the very vehicle to outsize impact in an industry that has erstwhile, been a behemoth when it comes to change.
Owing to the nature of their production process —one based in science and sustainability, nuovo diamonds are grown using green energy. Thus, being cruelty-free and conflict-free, nuovo diamonds leave the planet more balanced and better for having being made not in its core, but on the surface —inside tightly controlled, clean and safe working conditions.
Veganism- a lifestyle that promotes similar values and futures for all of earth-kind, focuses on sapien and sentient well-being —a cause that nuovo diamonds are similarly committed to.
Without contributing to water, air or habitat pollution; the nuovo diamond growth process is designed to be sustainable, efficient and egalitarian —supporting the thriving of animal life, habitats as well as ecosystems in its wake. The nuovo diamond promise is that of an economy devoid of human or animal conflict in response to greater consumer and planetary awareness.
In an obscured reality, the truth can become distorted to such an extent that words like “ethical” and “conflict-free” are essentially rendered meaningless and cutting through the PR spin of the mined diamond industry becomes nearly impossible. While the tradition of diamond mining demands symbolic gestures of make-believe consumer empowerment; through the right information and right access, modern buyers are slowly providing a much-needed pushback. Additionally, LGDs are disrupting the space with clean-origin, customisable, non-assembly line, automated and scientific production scales that easily go beyond blood diamonds to create the truly conscious, nuovo diamond.
In fact, nuovo diamonds are the flawless offspring of conscious science and conflict-sensitive businesses that are adapting to the consumer-led and technology-driven 4IR.
Bringing about global reforms advanced by the public sphere and its international partners, wars and protracted conflicts are slowly becoming a thing of the past within dynamic market environments that were earlier rent asunder by deeply distortive supply chains.
This has resulted in a transformation that has enlarged the commercial aspects of the scientific sector without taking away from its core innovation. It is vastly evident that CSRs or charity pledges are not the endgame. Only a fundamental reimagining of our consumer cycles, structural innovations (of which nuovo diamonds are the frontrunners) will do that by galvanising the social relevancy of a superclear conscience.
Even though some might regale it to virtue signalling, understanding and imbibing the concept of conflict-free diamonds is a worthwhile moral gesture. This is why nuovo diamonds are crucial —as the gravity of diamond-originated human rights violations demand more from our morality than token measures.
Beyond being just a jewel; a lab-grown diamond is a work of art. Man-made yet divine, the nuvovo diamond life is one of precision-engineered perfection and flawlessness —surpassing the natural prowess of the earth’s core. Brilliance made a billion years faster, nuovo diamonds are the crux to creating compassionate gemstones with personal meaning and professional applications that will change the world for the better.
Sanctified through science, innovation, transparency, and quality, nuovo diamonds redefine guilt-free gems. Unlike conflicted, colonial diamonds, nuovo diamonds are crafted through nano-technology and quantum computing —made in a free world, for a free world.
Identical in value, brilliance and beauty to their mined counterparts; the discerning difference between the two—one that is a matter of metaphorical life and death —is their origin. One has created blood wars across our world and scarred history beyond words while the other heals and hopes for a future filled by a better, brilliant “Zen” for us all.
Silicon Carbide (SiC) is a wide-bandgap semiconductor already widely used for electronic and photonic devices and hosts a number of colour centres.
Why the physical & chemical properties of wide bandgap semiconductors —silicon carbide & diamond are ideal for device fabrication, for application in many different areas
- Growth of diamond–SiC composite layers - Detailed composition and mechanical properties study - Enhanced scratch resistivity of layers
GaN is truly a wonder material and vastly improves thermal properties like diamond heat spreading when grown on CVD wafers. Read more in this article.
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