ARKHANGELSK, February 14. /TASS/. A laboratory to study diamonds was opened at the Northern Arctic Federal University (NAFU) in Arkhangelsk, the university’s press service told TASS.
"NAFU has opened a laboratory to study diamonds. It is called the ‘Laboratory for diagnostics of carbon materials and spin-optic phenomena in wide-band semiconductors’. Its main task is comprehensive studies of carbon materials by various methods, such as spectroscopy, microscopy, X-ray," the press service said.
The laboratory will study single crystal diamond plates with various defects, including the so-called NV-centers. "These are unique centers that are located inside the diamond, and these structures can be used in various quantum technologies, such as quantum gyroscope, magnetometers, navigation devices, which will be very promising in the future," the press service quoted the laboratory’s head, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Dmitry Marakov as saying.
The AGD Diamonds Company plans to produce single crystal diamond plates with NV-centers. The production requires control of necessary numbers of NV-centers in plates, to watch how many have appeared and how many are still to be produced.
The laboratory has a very powerful laser, which can cut and process diamonds. Another system can determine the voltage in diamonds. An infrared spectrometer will help to determine defects in diamonds. An atomic power and electron microscope will be used to study the diamond’s surface. Quite soon, the laboratory will have special equipment to register NV-centers. This equipment has been assembled at the Ioffe Physics and Technical Institute (the Russian Academy of Sciences) in St. Petersburg.
The laboratory is a part of the technology project, implemented by the Russian Arctic Scientific-Educational Center to synthesize single crystal diamonds. Among the laboratory’s 19 specialists, 17 are young scientists. Most experts are NAFU’s Master-degree students and post-graduates.
About Center and AGD Diamonds
In December, 2020, the Russian government supported the establishment of the Russian Arctic Scientific-Educational Center, which features specialists in the Arkhangelsk, Murmansk and Nenets Regions. The center’s objective is to implement new technology projects, make new materials, as well as to conduct studies and to bring the research to the international level. The center also trains specialists, who will focus on major technology tasks in the region in the interests of the Arctic industries and economy.
AGD Diamonds (formerly named as Arkhangelskgeoldobycha) is one of the oldest companies in Russia’s European North, involved in exploration, mining and processing of natural resources. It was founded in 1931. The company has been developing one of Europe’s two diamond deposits - the Grib deposit in the Arkhangelsk Region’s Mezen District.