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Traditional pure-carbon diamonds have a simple structure (tetrahedral, if I'm not mistaken). But common types of diamonds have other elements within them. For example, yellow diamond has nitrogen in it (at a rate of around 1 per million carbon atoms). My question is: what does the lattice structure look like with the occasional nitrogen atom thrown in the mix? The other one I'm curious about is blue diamonds, which have trace amounts of boron.

Ideally, I'd like to know what the structural/chemical formula might look like.

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  • $\begingroup$ Have a look: geology.com/diamond/yellow-diamonds $\endgroup$
    – Nilay Ghosh
    May 26, 2022 at 3:55
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    $\begingroup$ I assume it is very similar as for the group 13 and 15 dotting elements for P (holes) and N ( electrons) Si semiconductors, as Si has AFAIK the same structure. $\endgroup$
    – Poutnik
    May 26, 2022 at 7:33
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    $\begingroup$ It looks the same, only with N or B atoms instead of some C. $\endgroup$
    – Ivan Neretin
    May 26, 2022 at 15:50
  • $\begingroup$ The main difference is the extra valence electron of nitrogen. In a single site replacement, nitrogen will only form 3 bonds plus a lone pair, so one of the C-N bonds in broken, leaving an unpaired electron on a nearby carbon. $\endgroup$
    – Hayden S
    May 27, 2022 at 3:39

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