Abstract
Implantation of recoiling radioactive atoms is suggested as the cause of the anomalously high levels at which some impurities have been found in the sub-surface zone of single diamonds after neutron irradiation. Calculations show that the presence of 10 −3, or less, of a monolayer of atoms initially on the diamond surface can account for the sub-surface concentrations found by neutron activation analysis. The importance of this effect as a source of error in the analysis of diamonds using neutron activation is shown experimentally. The measured concentrations of sodium, cobalt, arsenic, bromine, antimony and tungsten can be reduced, sometimes to below the limit of detection, by removal of a thin outer layer of diamond. It is therefore recommended that two to three microns of the diamond surface be routinely removed in an oxidising agent (such as molten sodium nitrate) after irradiation and before counting.
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