Synthetic Quartz (Bell Telephone Laboratories)

Item Description

Here we have what is certainly a special combination of scientific achievement and U.S. technological history. This piece dates back to the 1960s, in the era of some of the first-ever-grown synthetic Quartz crystal specimens in the world. Unlike most such pieces, it is actually notably eye-catching and very well-preserved (with only a few nicks on the back) and it's completely INTACT, and not sliced up, which is exceedingly rare in my experience. The crystal has tremendous WATER-CLEAR clarity, along with beautifully smooth to fabulously scalloped sides which gives an interesting textural diversity to the faces. And the modified corners on the front and unusual termination faces add even more character. Rarely on the market in such size and beauty! Valued highly in today's market as these specimens are several decades old, and how often does one see a piece of this size and quality in such pristine condition available on the market? If you collect Quartz, U.S. specimens, pieces of American history or just unique oddities, don't miss out on this fantastic and important large cabinet display specimen. Weight is 152.9 grams A brief history of this material: By the 1960s, fine quality Quartz crystals had become an essential part of everyday communications, both civilian and military needs. Precision ground Quartz crystal plates were used in filters, oscillators, and frequency standard circuits in almost all forms of long distance communications. But the high cost and rarity of high quality optic grade Quartz crystals made them a hard commodity to find, most natural crystals contained impurities that made them unsuitable for manufacturing Quartz crystal plates. In 1946, in an attempt to reduce waste and provide a pure source of Quartz crystals, the Bell Telephone Laboratories started experimenting with growing synthetic / artificial Quartz crystals.  A process was developed where a small fragment of Quartz is immersed in an alkaline solution in a tightly closed vessel.   Under immense heat and pressure (which measured over ten tons per square inch and over 700 degrees Fahrenheit!), the Quartz fragment would dissolve.  The liquid would flow by convection to a growing zone where the Quartz would leave the solution and deposit itself on specially designed seed plates. By 1956, the process had been perfected.  Now Western Electric Company and Bell Labs were growing crystals on a large scale.  Very thin cut seed plates were placed into the vessels along with small pieces of natural Quartz and the alkaline solution to grow the synthetic crystals. 
From the collection of Armon McPherson, a retired physicist, now living in New Mexico. Armon received his PhD from North Carolina State University in 1985, and worked at the laser laboratory at the University of Illinois at Circle Center. In the summer of 1997, Armon moved to the Argonne National Laboratory where he worked at the Advanced Photon Source, then the world’s largest synchrotron facility dedicated as an x-ray source. In 2001, he was asked to join a team at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque to conduct laser research for DARPA. Finally, staying within Sandia, he transferred to the Z Facility, the world’s most powerful x-ray facility. He retired in the spring of 2017. Armon's introduction to mineral collecting came in the 1980s during graduate school when he attended his first mineral show. He took up the hobby of faceting gems, and focused his early collection on gem crystals, and later transitioned into collecting non-gem species. We are proud to offer specimens from his worldwide mineral collection here for you.