Abstract
WE have applied the multiple-beam interference technique described earlier1 to the study of the topography of a natural octahedron face of a diamond, thus revealing considerable information about growth, etch, face curvature, etc. We have settled a fifty-year-old controversy concerning the origin of the beautifully regular shallow-pit triangular markings shown by such faces. Miers2 cautiously stated that these are supposed to be due to etching and shows them pointing to the octahedron edge. Fersmann and Goldsmidt3 asserted that etch or solution can be responsible both for the triangles and the curved faces. Williams4 proposed on rather slender grounds that the triangular pits and curved faces arise from growth and not from solution.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Tolansky, Nature, 152, 722 (1943); Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 184, 41 (1945).
Miers, "Mineralogy" (1902).
Fersmann and Goldsmidt, "The Diamond" (1911).
Williams, "Genesis of the Diamond" (1932).
Kayser, Indust. Diamond Rev., 4 (Jan. 1944).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
TOLANSKY, S., WILCOCK, W. Topography of the Face of a Diamond Crystal. Nature 157, 583 (1946). https://doi.org/10.1038/157583a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/157583a0
This article is cited by
-
STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF DIAMOND
Nature (1947)
-
Topography of Crystal Faces
Nature (1946)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.