Diamond film research. Silicon plate (centre) holding 40,000 diamond film dots, held against a background of a magnified view of some of the dots (with a magnification of several million). These dots were produced using a revolutionary method for growing the world's smoothest and purest diamond films. This method was developed at Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois, USA. These ultra nano-crystalline diamond films may provide the breakthrough needed to push micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMSs) into the commercial mainstream. Photographed on 15 October 2013.