Novel Material Recognized for Advancing Innovation and Applications in the Optics Industry

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Dec. 8, 2016)—Element Six, a world leader in synthetic diamond supermaterials and member of The De Beers Group of Companies, today announced its single crystal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond technology has been named a Prism Award finalist in the materials and coatings category.  Hosted by SPIE and Photonics Media, the Prism Awards honor the best new photonic innovations and products on the market.

“As a company dedicated to solving critical challenges in optics, we are thrilled to have our single crystal CVD diamond recognized by the faculty of the Prism Awards, especially among such exceptional industry peers,” stated Daniel Twitchen, head of CVD business development at Element Six. “Our research and development efforts behind single crystal diamond span more than a decade, resulting in a superior material with immense engineering potential. This extraordinary material has served as the basis for product applications in optics, thermal management and abrasives—accomplishments which are underscored by this recognition.”

Single crystal synthetic diamond can be produced by both CVD and high pressure, high temperature (HPHT) synthesis, and has remarkable properties including high thermal conductivity, low thermal expansion, exceptional hardness, wide spectral band and electrochemical behavior. The new grade of single crystal CVD diamond that Element Six has developed has been instrumental in providing solutions that have been previously unattainable in optical settings, such as infrared (IR) spectroscopy, novel laser technologies with potential applications in astronomy or medicine, as well as high-power lasers.

Celebrating the best of the photonics industry, the Prism Awards are judged by a panel of leading industry experts, venture capitalists, luminaries and visionaries. The awards program is organized with SPIE Photonics West, the world’s largest multidisciplinary event focusing on photonics technologies, where the winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Feb. 1, 2017 in San Francisco, California.

For more information about Element Six, please visit www.e6.com. Press interested in speaking with an Element Six spokesperson can contact e6@havasformula.com.

About Element Six

Element Six is a synthetic diamond supermaterials company and a member of The De Beers Group of Companies, its majority shareholder. Element Six designs, develops and produces synthetic diamond supermaterials, with major manufacturing sites in five locations in the U.S., China, Germany, South Africa and a Global Innovation Centre in Oxford, U.K. 

Element Six supermaterial solutions are used in applications such as cutting, grinding, drilling, shearing and polishing, while the extreme properties of synthetic diamond beyond hardness are already opening up new applications in a wide array of industries such as optics, power transmission, water treatment, semiconductors and sensors.