Physico-chemical synthesis of diamond in metastable range

The present paper discusses the synthesis of diamond in its metastable region from carbonaceous gases, in particular methane. The diamond synthesis on seed crystals is made possible owing to the orientation effect of surface forces on the formation of a new phase. Discussed is also the joint crystallization of diamond and graphite. The basic experiments were made on highly dispersed diamond powders. The growth of diamond in kinetic and diffusion regions has been studied. Presented are results of studying the fractionation of stable carbon isotopes when growing a diamond.