Natural and laboratory α-particle irradiation of diamond

Abstract

SummaryTo produce a lattice expansion readily detectable by conventional X-ray photographic means in α-irradiated diamond, a dose of order 1018α.cm−2 is required. Such a dose could be produced by pitchblende in ∼2 × 108 yr. and a previously reported lattice expansion in a natural diamond could therefore have occurred by long-term contact with a radioactive material. α-particle doses greater than ∼1014 cm−2 produce observable green colouration on the surface of an initially colourless diamond.