Researchers have come up with a new phase of solid carbon, which has the qualities that were earlier thought to be impossible, and can be used for the creation of diamonds at room temperature and the similar atmospheric pressure as the ambient air.

North Carolina State University scientists have named it Q-carbon, saying that it is different from the other solid forms of carbon, graphite and diamond that are known to us.

NC State’s Jay Narayan, lead author of three papers on the findings, including a paper published recently in Journal of Applied Physics, said that the sole place it could be found in the natural world would be likely in the core of some planets.

He said that Q-carbon is ferromagnetic, which was earlier believed to be impossible. It is harder than diamond and glows on getting exposed to even a small amount of energy.

Narayan explained that the strength and low work-function, willingness to release electrons, of Q-carbon make it quite promising for the development of new electronic display technologies.

The technique can also be used for making diamond structures by first creating Q-carbon from a substrate like glass or plastic polymer that has a covering of elemental carbon, hit with a laser pulse and then cooled at a fast pace in a accurately controlled manner.

Narayan said, “We can create diamond nanoneedles or microneedles, nanodots, or large-area diamond films, with applications for drug delivery, industrial processes and for creating high-temperature switches and power electronics. These diamond objects have a single-crystalline structure, making them stronger than polycrystalline materials”.

Narayan added that all of it can be done at room temperature and at ambient atmosphere. Thus, it not only will let them create new applications, but the process itself will be relatively cheap.