Today on Getting Stoned, I want to talk about Diamond Foundry which is valued at just under $2 billion. The company recently had a $200 million investment but that's not what I want to talk about. This Silicon Valley startup is a gem in its own right.
Diamond Foundry doesn't mine its diamonds but instead produces them in a lab. Many gem purists may believe that synthetic gems are not real or natural despite the fact they are chemically identical to the mined gems. This certainly reflects in the pricing of such gems, but mining isn’t that great for the environment.
The company, which creates flawless, identical diamonds, is planning to use its new investment to compete with miners such ad De Beers. In the article that inspired this episode, it was pointed out that mined diamonds are going through a downturn with a 20% slide in production in 2020 to 111 million carats compared to a peak of 152 million carats in 2017. The pandemic most likely impacted those numbers heavily but the article mentioned that there are no new diamond mines coming into production and that the market is not at that inflection point.
One neat thing about Diamond Foundry is that it plans to expand in the 200milimeter single-crystal diamond wafers for use in technology. When the silicon in semiconductors is replaced with diamonds, this improves their performance since diamonds are great conductors of heat. There are many uses of diamond wafer semiconductors and industries include data centers, electric vehicles, and 5G technology.
Wait, does this mean that my Tesla Cybertruck will come with teeny tiny diamonds? The article also pointed out that all of the largest tech companies in the world are looking at working with diamond wafers. Diamond chips are an idea, but that's pretty difficult and something that hasn't been solved yet according to Diamond Foundry's chief executive Martin Roscheisen.
https://www.technowize.com/diamond-foundry-valued-at-1-8-billion-following-200-million-investment/
Photo by Johnna Crider (rough diamond)
About Getting Stoned.
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. The mission of this podcast is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
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