I am pleased to announce that we sent in a v6 Asha sample for independent verification of our amorphous diamond coating technology, and just received the results back.
The summary is that Raman spectroscopy was able to identify our amorphous diamond coating, and also verify that it is a high purity (high % of diamond bonds). Diamond bonds = SP3, graphitic bonds = SP2.
Excerpt:
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Purpose:
To detect the presence of a diamond like carbon (DLC) coating on a zirconia gem.
Summary:
DLC was detected by Raman spectroscopy on the gem coating. The DLC was of high quality, having probably up to 85% sp3 content, typical for a tetrahedral amorphous carbon.
Experimental:
The Raman measurements were performed with a “Dilor” J-Y spectrometer (“LabRam”) equipped with a “BX40 Olympus” microscope using the backscattering geometry (1800). A HeNe laser (632.8 nm wavelength) and a 600 gr/mm grating were used in these measurements, which were repeated with an Ar+ ion laser (514.5 nm wavelength) and an 1800 gr/mm grating.
We are also going to make available testing samples with differing amorphous diamond coating thickness to any gemologist with Raman testing technology (since its non-destructive) who would like to independently verify our coating technology used in making the Asha.
Different Raman systems have different 'resolution' abilities and so a set of different colors (thickness) will ensure that the amorphous diamond can be readily detected under different systems. The higher purity films are actually harder to detect than the more typical DLC's (lower purity).
Our independent testing page with other tests such as Goniometry and previous Raman results is here: Asha Independent Testing Page
