While diamonds are highly valued as jewels, diamond as a material is of tremendous use in nanotechnology. Like fullerenes, diamond has an orderly alignment of carbon atoms but is harder and conducts heat better than almost any other substance, is highly resistant to radiation and chemicals, boasts extremely high transparency and refractive index, and is extremely stable. These properties prompted the production of industrial diamonds and have earned diamond the moniker of "ultimate semiconductor."

Crystalline diamond is made of carbon, but its surface can be terminated with either oxygen or hydrogen. There are high expectations for the use of crystalline diamond in nanoelectronics and nanobiotechnology by exploiting the different electrical properties, affinity for water and other features of oxygen- and hydrogen-terminated diamond.

Various other diamond nanotechnology applications are also under consideration, such as the fabrication of diamond whiskers or probes of a few nanometers in width to extract electrons.

♦ Diamond Nanotechnology