Full metadata
Title
Lonsdaleite is faulted and twinned cubic diamond and does not exist as a discrete material
Description
Lonsdaleite, also called hexagonal diamond, has been widely used as a marker of asteroidal impacts. It is thought to play a central role during the graphite-to-diamond transformation, and calculations suggest that it possesses mechanical properties superior to diamond. However, despite extensive efforts, lonsdaleite has never been produced or described as a separate, pure material. Here we show that defects in cubic diamond provide an explanation for the characteristic d-spacings and reflections reported for lonsdaleite. Ultrahigh-resolution electron microscope images demonstrate that samples displaying features attributed to lonsdaleite consist of cubic diamond dominated by extensive {113} twins and {111} stacking faults. These defects give rise to nanometre-scale structural complexity. Our findings question the existence of lonsdaleite and point to the need for re-evaluating the interpretations of many lonsdaleite-related fundamental and applied studies.
Date Created
2014-11-01
Contributors
- Nemeth, Peter (Author)
- Garvie, Laurence (Author)
- Aoki, Toshihiro (Author)
- Dubrovinskaia, Natalia (Author)
- Dubrovinsky, Leonid (Author)
- Buseck, Peter (Author)
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor)
- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor)
- School of Earth and Space Exploration (Contributor)
- Center for Meteorite Studies (Contributor)
- Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering (Contributor)
- LeRoy Eyring Center for Solid State Science (Contributor)
- School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor)
Resource Type
Extent
5 pages
Language
eng
Copyright Statement
In Copyright
Primary Member of
Identifier
Digital object identifier: 10.1038/ncomms6447
Identifier Type
International standard serial number
Identifier Value
0032-0633
Series
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.28362
Preferred Citation
Nemeth, Peter, Garvie, Laurence A. J., Aoki, Toshihiro, Dubrovinskaia, Natalia, Dubrovinsky, Leonid, & Buseck, Peter R. (2014). Lonsdaleite is faulted and twinned cubic diamond and does not exist as a discrete material. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 5(0), 0-0. http://www.nature.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/ncomms/2014/141120/ncomms644…
Level of coding
minimal
Cataloging Standards
Note
The final version of this article, as published in NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, can be viewed online at: http://www.nature.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/ncomms/2014/141120/ncomms6447/full/ncomms6447.html
System Created
- 2015-03-24 03:27:53
System Modified
- 2021-08-16 02:23:30
- 3 years 3 months ago
Additional Formats