Inclusions related to catalyst and medium for transmitting pressure in diamond single crystals grown at high temperature and high pressure from the Fe-C system

Inclusion entrapment in a crystal is one of the most important characteristics for the crystal growth technique from solution. Diamond single crystals grown from the Fe-C system at high temperature-high pressure usually contain inclusions related to the molten catalyst and the medium (pyrophyllite) for transmitting pressure. During the growth of the diamond, the inclusions are trapped by the growth front or are formed through reaction between the contaminants trapped in the diamond. In the present article, the inclusions related to the catalyst and pyrophyllite were systemically examined by transmission electron microscopy. The chemical composition and crystal structure of the inclusions were, for the first time, determined by selected area electron diffraction pattern combined with energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry. It was shown that the inclusions are mainly composed of orthorhombic Fe3C, orthorhombic FeSi2, hexagonal SiO2 and face-centred cubic SiC. (author)