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物理先行，中国科学家创造出比天然钻石更硬的稀有“六角金刚石”
研究人员制作了难以捉摸的菱形矿物（也称为六方金刚石）的小而纯净的样品，并测试了其材料特性，表明它比钻石更硬。
来源:LiveScienceResearchers in China have made what they claim to be the first samples of pure hexagonal diamond, a theorized rare variant of superstrong diamond found in meteorites from shattered dwarf planets.
天然金刚石，也称为立方金刚石，长期以来一直被认为是地球上最硬的天然材料，以至于用于评定矿物耐刮擦能力的莫氏硬度标尺都使用金刚石作为硬度标尺的上限。由于碳原子排列整齐，呈立方结构，因此被称为立方金刚石。相比之下，六方金刚石将碳原子组织在由六边形组成的晶格中，就像蜂窝一样。
一种难以捉摸的矿物
In 1962, researchers at the Pittsburg Coal Research Center theorized that layers of carbon atoms making up diamond could be organized in a hexagonal lattice instead of a cubic one, thanks to how carbon forms bonds with other carbon atoms. 1967 年，研究人员在实验室中发现了六方金刚石（或称六方金刚石），怀疑它可能比立方金刚石更硬。
他们开始在一种特殊类型的富含钻石的陨石（称为 ureilite）中寻找它，这种陨石是由破碎的矮行星的地幔形成的。 1967 年的一篇论文记录了首次在野外发现的六方钻石； three Canyon Diablo meteorites (fragments of an asteroid that created a large crater in Arizona) with about 30% hexagonal and 70% cubic diamond phases, and Goalpara meteorites (found in Assam, India) that had a small amount of hexagonal diamond.
并非所有人都同意暗黑破坏神峡谷的存在。一些科学家认为，这些证据可以用混乱堆叠的有缺陷的立方钻石来解释，他们不相信在之前的研究中发现了菱形矿。 However, multiple recent studies have identified lonsdaleite in meteorites and in lab samples, including a 2025 study that made small amounts of it in the lab.
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