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Chinese physicists create elusive 'hexagonal diamond' that's harder than natural diamond
- Researchers in China produced pure hexagonal diamond in bulk and confirmed its identity in a Nature study.
- The hexagonal variant is stiffer and harder than cubic diamond and resists oxidation at higher temperatures.
- The material could improve drilling, thermal management, and quantum sensing applications.
- Samples were created by compressing organized graphite at 20 gigapascals and heating to 1,300–1,900°C.
- The discovery provides major evidence that hexagonal diamond is a real material.
- The study suggests hexagonal diamond may have industrial and quantum sensing uses.
- Researchers reported the first credible evidence of hexagonal diamond in the wild via meteorites and lab samples.
- The hexagonal diamond samples were about 1.5 millimeters in diameter, enabling property measurements.
- Hexagonal diamond is named lonsdaleite, a theoretical variant first proposed in 1962.
- The findings may help understand the meteorite origin and solar system formation.
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