De Beers’ Element Six to Spin Off Detectors Firm

Diamond giant De Beers is expanding its activities, forming a company that will use synthetic diamonds in detectors for a range of markets.

Diamond Detectors Ltd, an Element Six (E6) spin-out company, will focus on the development of customized detector solutions, initially targeting four main markets: high energy physics, nuclear monitoring, radiotherapy dosimetry and deep-UV detection.

E6 is part of the De Beers group of companies. It manufactures synthetic diamonds for industrial use, employing chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes.

“Spinning out Diamond Detectors will help accelerate the commercialization of diamond detectors and devices,” explains Christian Hultner, CEO of E6, calling the venture a demonstration the remarkable properties of diamond as an advanced engineering material.

Diamonds can detect many types of radiation from UV and X-rays to particles, says Kevin Oliver, Technical Director of Diamond Detectors.

Initial products under development include applications in high energy physics research such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project at CERN. Industrial applications include alpha, beta and neutron detection in the nuclear industry.