The hardest glass in the world, capable of cutting diamonds

Diamonds are considered one of the hardest substances in the world and are usually used to cut glass. But now, this situation has changed, and glass can also be used to cut diamonds! Recently, the team of Professor Tian Yongjun of Yanshan University published a paper in the National Research Review, saying that his team has developed a new type of glass material-AM-III, which is harder than diamond and is the hardest glass in the world. Material. The paper was published in the August 11th issue of “National Research Review”.

Researchers said that the Vickers hardness of AM-III is 113 GPa, while the Vickers hardness of diamond is about 70 to 100 GPa, which is a full dozen more GPa, which makes AM-III the hardest on earth In the experiment, it can be seen that AM-III can easily leave a deep scratch on the surface of the diamond. It is estimated that it is ten times harder than steel and 20 to 100 times stronger than most bulletproof glass.

According to reports, at a high temperature of 1300 degrees Celsius, Fullerene C60 (Fullerene) (a hollow molecule composed entirely of carbon with a spherical, ellipsoidal, cylindrical or tubular shape) is compressed under high pressure , You can get a light yellow transparent material-AM-III.

From the point of view of physical structure, AM-III is composed of carbon atoms like diamond. The difference is that the arrangement of atoms and molecules of diamond is a perfect lattice structure, which is a crystalline substance. The atoms and molecules of AM-III are not neatly arranged, the structure is more chaotic, and it is amorphous. The crystal has a certain melting point, while the amorphous has no fixed melting point. As the temperature increases, the amorphous becomes soft first, then gradually becomes thicker and thinner, and finally becomes a fluid. Therefore, AM-III is called a new type of glass material, but cannot be called a new type of diamond material.

From the point of view of manufacturing methods, AM-III, like artificial diamonds, is manufactured using high temperature and high pressure methods. However, the physical properties are different. Diamond cannot conduct electricity, but AM-III is a highly efficient semiconductor material. It has the characteristics of electrical conductivity and high temperature resistance. If you want to manufacture optoelectronic devices that use high strength and wear resistance in extreme environments There is no doubt that AM-III is a very ideal material.