this post was submitted on 09 Dec 2024
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Futurology
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What's the biggest synthetic diamond we've made so far? Has anyone made diamond spectacles or windows?
They're quite brittle, so probably not a window like you're thinking.
https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=15962
10mm diameter for just over £1000.
Ah, so still not quite Cullinan-scale yet. Optical quality is probably better though.
I'm surprised diamonds aren't used more for lenses. Given its high index of refraction, it seems like an ideal material.
Yeah, the optical quality seems to be the main point. I assume there's few fields where that level of precision is worth it though. I doubt we're about to see it on an iPhone any time soon.