EP1042132A1 - Marquage d'un diamant ou d'une pierre precieuse, sous forme de plusieurs rainures - Google Patents

Marquage d'un diamant ou d'une pierre precieuse, sous forme de plusieurs rainures

Info

Publication number
EP1042132A1
EP1042132A1 EP98962614A EP98962614A EP1042132A1 EP 1042132 A1 EP1042132 A1 EP 1042132A1 EP 98962614 A EP98962614 A EP 98962614A EP 98962614 A EP98962614 A EP 98962614A EP 1042132 A1 EP1042132 A1 EP 1042132A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
diamond
mark
gemstone
grooves
ion beam
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP98962614A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP1042132B1 (fr
Inventor
James Gordon Charters Smith
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Gersan Ets
Original Assignee
Gersan Ets
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Gersan Ets filed Critical Gersan Ets
Publication of EP1042132A1 publication Critical patent/EP1042132A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1042132B1 publication Critical patent/EP1042132B1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B44—DECORATIVE ARTS
    • B44B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR TOOLS FOR ARTISTIC WORK, e.g. FOR SCULPTURING, GUILLOCHING, CARVING, BRANDING, INLAYING
    • B44B7/00—Machines, apparatus or hand tools for branding, e.g. using radiant energy such as laser beams
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B44—DECORATIVE ARTS
    • B44B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR TOOLS FOR ARTISTIC WORK, e.g. FOR SCULPTURING, GUILLOCHING, CARVING, BRANDING, INLAYING
    • B44B3/00—Artist's machines or apparatus equipped with tools or work holders moving or able to be controlled substantially two- dimensionally for carving, engraving, or guilloching shallow ornamenting or markings
    • B44B3/04—Artist's machines or apparatus equipped with tools or work holders moving or able to be controlled substantially two- dimensionally for carving, engraving, or guilloching shallow ornamenting or markings wherein non-plane surfaces are worked
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B44—DECORATIVE ARTS
    • B44B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR TOOLS FOR ARTISTIC WORK, e.g. FOR SCULPTURING, GUILLOCHING, CARVING, BRANDING, INLAYING
    • B44B2700/00—Machines, apparatus, tools or accessories for artistic work
    • B44B2700/08—Machines, apparatus or hand tools for branding

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for marking a surface of a diamond or other gemstone.
  • the mark may be any mark, but the invention is particularly but not exclusively directed to applying an information mark to the diamond.
  • the diamond may be, for instance, an industrial diamond such as a wiredrawing die, though the invention is of particular interest in marking gemstone diamonds, and especially for applying a mark which is invisible to the naked eye or invisible to the eye using a xlO loupe (which is the loupe used by jewellers), when the mark can be applied to a polished facet of the gemstone without detracting from its clarity grade.
  • the marks can be used to uniquely identify the gemstone by a serial number or as a brand or quality mark, but it should not detract from the value or appearance of the stone, and should preferably not exhibit blackening.
  • a method of forming a mark on the surface of a diamond or gemstone comprising the step of forming a plurality of grooves on the surface of the diamond or gemstone, the mark being such that it cannot be read by the naked eye, the grooves producing a visible diffraction effect under certain predetermined lighting conditions, such that the mark can be read under certain predetermined magnification conditions.
  • an apparatus for performing the above-mentioned method comprising: a diamond or gemstone which has been marked by the above-mentioned method.
  • a method of forming a mark on the surface of a diamond or gemstone comprising the step of forming a plurality of grooves on the surface of the diamond, said grooves producing a visible diffraction effect under certain predetermined illumination conditions without detrimentally affecting the clarity grade of the diamond or gemstone.
  • an apparatus for performing the above-mentioned method comprising: a diamond or gemstone which has been marked by the above-mentioned method.
  • each groove is not less than about 10 nm deep and/or not more than about 50 nm deep with no evidence of blackening. A specific example would be around 30 nm.
  • the grooves may be in the form of parallel lines, or even a plurality of intersecting grooves forming cross-hatched pattern, depending on the effect desired.
  • marking can be carried out using any suitable means, e.g. etching with an excimer laser or plasma etching, marking is preferably carried out using an ion beam, and most preferably by direct writing on the diamond surface with a focused ion beam.
  • etching with an excimer laser or plasma etching marking is preferably carried out using an ion beam, and most preferably by direct writing on the diamond surface with a focused ion beam.
  • ion beam By limiting the dose, sputtering of carbon atoms can be avoided, sputtering causing direct material removal; this enables a mark to be applied with a controlled depth and good resolution.
  • Gallium ions are used, but a beam of other suitable ions may alternatively be used.
  • the incident ions cause disordering that converts the diamond to a graphite-like or other non-diamond structure that can be cleaned using, for example, a powerful oxidizing agent, such as molten potassium nitrate, at a temperature of approximately 380-550 Centigrade for a period of between a few minutes and several hours.
  • a powerful oxidizing agent such as molten potassium nitrate
  • potassium nitrate has been found to be more effective in removing disordered diamond than other known processes, thus allowing a mark of a given depth to be produced with a relatively low dose of ions.
  • Suitable oxidising agents may be molten compounds such as alkali metal salts; compounds in the form XnYm where the group X may be Li + , Na + , K + , Rb + , Cs + or other cation, and the group Y may be OH " , NO 3 " , O 2 2 ⁇ O 2 ⁇ CO 3 " or other anion, the integers n and m being used to maintain charge balance. Mixtures of such compounds may be used. Air or other oxygen-containing gases may also be present.
  • the disordered layer of the diamond can be removed using an acid or potassium nitrate dissolved in acid.
  • an acid or potassium nitrate dissolved in acid for example, molten potassium nitrate eliminates acid fumes.
  • the need to dispose of spent acid is eliminated, thereby offering safety, environmental and economic benefits.
  • the depth of disordering is determined by the range of ions. For 50 keV Gallium, this range is about 30 nm.
  • the minimum dose may be around 10 13 / cm 2 and is preferably about 10 14 /cm 2 to 10 15 /cm 2 , but good marks can be applied with a fairly modest dose, the preferred maximum dose being about 10 /cm or even up to about 10 /cm . However, the dose depends upon the ions being used and their energy (as measured in keV).
  • the ion beam dose is a total number of incident ions per unit area at the sample surface, during the marking.
  • the beam current may be about 0.5 nA, and the beam energy not less than about 10 keV or about 30 keN and/or not greater than about 100 keV or about 50 keV.
  • the region to be marked and/or the surrounding area may be coated with an electrically conducting layer, for instance gold, prior to forming the mark, so that an electrical connection can be provided before marking with an ion beam, to prevent charging.
  • the thickness of the gold, or other coating alters the variation of depth of the mark with beam energy and may thus be chosen to optimise the mark produced.
  • the accuracy of the method is such that no masking is required: the ion beam is applied directly to the surface of the diamond at the positions where the grooves are required to be formed.
  • the ion beam is applied directly to the surface of the diamond at the positions where the grooves are required to be formed.
  • an apparatus for viewing a mark formed on a diamond using the method of the first or second aspect of the present invention comprising illumination means for illuminating the mark with directional light at an angle which corresponds to the diffraction angle of light of a predetermined wavelength or band of wavelengths, viewing means for viewing said mark, and magnification means for magnifying the viewed image of said mark.
  • the invention also extends to a method of viewing the mark corresponding to the apparatus defined above.
  • the mark is preferably viewed against a dark background, ie. it is preferred that the illuminating light is substantially prevented from reflecting through the stone and appearing directly behind or close to the mark. It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that, in order to achieve this, the angle and direction from which the illuminating light is supplied (and hence the orientation and spacing of the lines) must be chosen so as to ensure that no light can follow the undesired path.
  • the typical range of magnification required to view the mark is xlO to x50.
  • n is an integer.
  • d is the distance between each groove
  • ⁇ is the angle of the incident light
  • ⁇ is the wavelength of the diffracted light
  • n is an integer.
  • n l.
  • d and n are fixed, and the wavelength of diffracted light, i.e. the colour which the mark will appear when viewed, can be varied by varying the angle of incident light.
  • the angle of the incident light i.e. ⁇
  • ⁇ is set so that ⁇ is around 450nm, using the above equation.
  • ⁇ is set so that ⁇ is around 620nm.
  • the illuminating means may comprise a light source and an opaque screen located in the incident light path, the screen having two apertures formed therein, the apertures being formed on either side of a generally central position such that two angular directional light sources are produced. The distance between the apertures determines the angle of the incident light sources.
  • the directional light source(s) may be provided by any convenient means, e.g. two separate light sources.
  • a conventional microscope may include illumination means comprising a circular ring-shaped source comprising optical fibres illuminated by a remote tungsten light bulb. The illumination means of the present invention can be obtained by masking off all but two diametrically opposite sections of the illuminator.
  • Figure 1 is a magnified schematic diagram of the type of mark which is formed using the method and apparatus of the first and second aspects of the present invention
  • Figure 2 is a further magnified cross-sectional view along line A - A of Figure 1;
  • Figure 3 is a schematic view of an embodiment of apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention.
  • a mark in the form of an alphanumeric character may be formed by means of a plurality of equally spaced, parallel elongate grooves 10 each separated by a distance d.
  • Each groove 10 may have a generally square or rectangular cross-section, as shown in Figure 2.
  • a sinusoidal profile may be preferred to reduce unwanted higher order diffraction.
  • a diamond gemstone is mounted in a suitable holder and placed in a vacuum chamber equipped with a focused ion beam source such as supplied by FEI or Micrion.
  • a focused ion beam source such as supplied by FEI or Micrion.
  • the region to be marked may be irradiated using an electron flood gun supplied by Micrion, providing a low energy, e.g. 1-100 eN, source of electrons, to prevent the diamond from becoming charged.
  • the sample is removed from the vacuum chamber, placed in a stainless steel crucible, and covered with a powerful oxidising agent, such as molten potassium nitrate, for a period of around one to two hours.
  • a powerful oxidising agent such as molten potassium nitrate
  • the sample is subsequently cooled and removed from the potassium nitrate before being cleaned using water and ethanol, thereby removing the portions of the diamond surface which have been disordered by the ion beam, and leaving a series of closely spaced grooves each around 30 - 35 nm deep, with no evidence of blackening.
  • the exposed region Upon examination before cleaning, the exposed region is identifiable by its graphitelike appearance when examined, for example, in a reflected light microscope. Such a mark would not be acceptable to a diamond grader, in that it would substantially reduce the clarity grade of the diamond. However, after cleaning using the powerful oxidising agent, the mark is not easily visible in a microscope, with no contrast between the mark and surrounding areas. The mark only becomes visible when illuminated by preferably two directional light sources at an angle which corresponds to the angle of diffracted light of a particular wavelength, for example blue light, at which time the mark appears blue. Such a mark is acceptable to a diamond grader in that it does not detrimentally affect the clarity grade of the diamond.
  • the closely spaced grooves are preferably formed within an 'invisible outline' of an alphanumeric character or the like, as shown in Figure 1 of the drawings.
  • the marked diamond 104 is placed on the viewing surface 100 of a conventional microscope 102.
  • the diamond 104 is illuminated by two directional light sources 106 having an angle ⁇ relative to the vertical axis Y.
  • ⁇ is chosen so that the mark appears to be, for example, blue or red, as desired.
  • d is approximately 1200nm, then ⁇ is chosen to satisfy:
  • the directional light sources may be provided by a generally ring-shaped illuminator, all but two diametrically opposite portions thereof being masked off. However, any suitable light source may be used to produce the same effect.

Landscapes

  • Adornments (AREA)
  • Crystals, And After-Treatments Of Crystals (AREA)
  • Investigating Materials By The Use Of Optical Means Adapted For Particular Applications (AREA)
  • Welding Or Cutting Using Electron Beams (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un procédé et un appareil pour la formation d'une marque à la surface d'un diamant ou d'une pierre précieuse, ladite marque consistant en plusieurs rainures (10) qui ne nuisent pas au degré de pureté du diamant ou de la pierre précieuse et qui ont un effet hautement diffracteur dans certaines conditions d'éclairage et de grossissement. Un appareil et un procédé pour visualiser ladite marque sont également décrits.
EP98962614A 1997-12-24 1998-12-23 Marquage d'un diamant ou d'une pierre precieuse, sous forme de plusieurs rainures Expired - Lifetime EP1042132B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9727364 1997-12-24
GBGB9727364.3A GB9727364D0 (en) 1997-12-24 1997-12-24 Watermark
PCT/GB1998/003889 WO1999033671A1 (fr) 1997-12-24 1998-12-23 Marquage d'un diamant ou d'une pierre precieuse, sous forme de plusieurs rainures

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1042132A1 true EP1042132A1 (fr) 2000-10-11
EP1042132B1 EP1042132B1 (fr) 2003-12-03

Family

ID=10824244

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP98962614A Expired - Lifetime EP1042132B1 (fr) 1997-12-24 1998-12-23 Marquage d'un diamant ou d'une pierre precieuse, sous forme de plusieurs rainures

Country Status (15)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1042132B1 (fr)
JP (2) JP4497720B2 (fr)
KR (1) KR100501089B1 (fr)
CN (1) CN1146506C (fr)
AU (1) AU746557B2 (fr)
CA (1) CA2316957C (fr)
DE (1) DE69820295T2 (fr)
ES (1) ES2212385T3 (fr)
GB (2) GB9727364D0 (fr)
HK (1) HK1020032A1 (fr)
IL (1) IL136967A0 (fr)
RU (1) RU2215659C2 (fr)
TW (1) TW458836B (fr)
WO (1) WO1999033671A1 (fr)
ZA (1) ZA9811838B (fr)

Families Citing this family (19)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2357737A (en) * 1999-12-27 2001-07-04 Yasuhira Mori Digitally marking a gemstone using a laser
US6905725B2 (en) * 2001-04-26 2005-06-14 Valinmark Inc. Method for creating and visualizing an optically invisible mark
ATE407100T1 (de) * 2003-12-12 2008-09-15 Element Six Ltd Verfahren zum einbringen einer markierung in einen cvd-diamanten
EP2289361A1 (fr) 2005-12-06 2011-03-02 California Institute of Technology Amélioration des caractéristiques optiques d'une pierre précieuse
US8069688B2 (en) 2006-12-06 2011-12-06 California Institute Of Technology Gemstones and methods for controlling the appearance thereof
RU2427041C2 (ru) * 2009-05-08 2011-08-20 Юрий Константинович Низиенко Способ формирования идентификационной метки для маркировки ценных изделий и ценное изделие с ее использованием
RU2426487C2 (ru) * 2009-05-08 2011-08-20 Юрий Константинович Низиенко Идентификационная метка для маркировки ценных изделий и ценное изделие с ее использованием
RU2427908C1 (ru) 2010-03-29 2011-08-27 Юрий Константинович Низиенко Способ детектирования визуально невидимой идентификационной метки на поверхности ценного изделия, способ его позиционирования в процессе детектирования и детектор для реализации процесса
RU2611232C2 (ru) 2011-07-27 2017-02-21 Александер ПОТЕМКИН Способ нанесения маркировки на поверхность алмаза или бриллианта для определения его подлинности
US20130264391A1 (en) * 2012-04-04 2013-10-10 Miriam MERENFELD Reflective surface having a computer readable code
KR102067202B1 (ko) * 2013-05-30 2020-01-17 차우 타이 푹 쥬얼리 컴퍼니 리미티드 재료 마킹 방법 및 재료 마킹 시스템, 및 이러한 마킹 방법에 따라 마킹된 재료
EP2860003B1 (fr) * 2013-10-11 2016-12-07 Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Company Ltd. Procédé de marquage pour pierres gemmes comprenant notamment des diamants, marquages et pierres précieuses marquées selon un tel procédé
HK1198858A2 (en) 2014-04-16 2015-06-12 Master Dynamic Ltd Method of marking a solid state material, and solid state materials marked according to such a method
CH713538B1 (de) * 2017-03-02 2020-12-30 Guebelin Gem Lab Ltd Verfahren zum Rückverfolgbarmachen eines Schmucksteins.
WO2019161791A1 (fr) * 2018-02-23 2019-08-29 Master Dynamic Limited Procédé de marquage d'un matériau à l'état solide, marques formées à partir de tels procédés et matériaux à l'état solide marqués selon un tel procédé
SG10201805438TA (en) * 2018-06-25 2020-01-30 Iia Tech Pte Ltd A diamond having nanostructures on one of its surface to generate structural colours and a method of producing thereof
EP3712717A1 (fr) * 2019-03-19 2020-09-23 Comadur S.A. Methode pour marquer une glace de montre en saphir
RU2720100C1 (ru) * 2019-03-26 2020-04-24 Акционерная Компания "АЛРОСА" (публичное акционерное общество) (АК "АЛРОСА" (ПАО)) Способ создания и детектирования оптически проницаемого изображения внутри алмаза и системы для детектирования (варианты)
CN111983804A (zh) * 2020-08-27 2020-11-24 蔡汉荣 一种金属表面及利用金属表面加工形成反射式投影成像的方法

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Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JP2009285733A (ja) 2009-12-10
RU2215659C2 (ru) 2003-11-10
AU746557B2 (en) 2002-05-02
AU1774399A (en) 1999-07-19
GB9727364D0 (en) 1998-02-25
JP2001526996A (ja) 2001-12-25
GB2332651A (en) 1999-06-30
GB2332651B (en) 2001-11-07
CN1146506C (zh) 2004-04-21
TW458836B (en) 2001-10-11
EP1042132B1 (fr) 2003-12-03
CN1284916A (zh) 2001-02-21
KR20010040311A (ko) 2001-05-15
CA2316957A1 (fr) 1999-07-08
ZA9811838B (en) 2000-06-23
ES2212385T3 (es) 2004-07-16
KR100501089B1 (ko) 2005-07-18
IL136967A0 (en) 2001-06-14
GB9828393D0 (en) 1999-02-17
DE69820295T2 (de) 2004-10-21
DE69820295D1 (de) 2004-01-15
WO1999033671A1 (fr) 1999-07-08
HK1020032A1 (en) 2000-03-10
CA2316957C (fr) 2004-04-27
JP4497720B2 (ja) 2010-07-07

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