Smartphones become hot and underclocked when used at high frequencies, AI servers overheat and freeze when running at full load, high-end chips are restricted by high temperatures and release performance... Currently, chip manufacturing processes continue to improve, transistor density continues to increase, and high-end fields such as AI computing power, 6G communications, and aerospace require higher equipment power requirements. "Heat dissipation capacity" is becoming a barrier that limits the performance breakthroughs of high-end electronic equipment.
How to solve the ultimate dilemma of chip heat dissipation and press the "cooling button" for high-precision electronic equipment? The answer is hidden in a tiny diamond.
Chips are looking for a cure when they get hot
In the laboratory of the Functional Diamond Research Institute of SINOMACH Diamond (Henan) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as SINOMACH Diamond), the laser cutting machine is accurately dividing a gray disc with a diameter of 4 inches along the preset path. On the operating table, this seemingly ordinary "diamond sheet" will be sent to the AI chip packaging line after special processing to become a "fever reducing sheet" for high-end GPUs.
With the explosive growth of global AI computing infrastructure, chip heat flow density continues to exceed the carrying capacity of traditional materials. For a long time, the performance of traditional heat dissipation materials such as copper and silicon commonly used in the industry has approached the physical upper limit, making it difficult to adapt to the extremely fast heat dissipation requirements of high-power chips. Against this background, diamond has become a key breakthrough to solve the industry's pain points by virtue of its unique physical properties.
Li Zhengxin, honorary dean and chief scientist of the High-tech Industrial Technology Research Institute of Henan University of Technology, said that the thermal conductivity of diamond is 4 to 5 times that of traditional copper, and its heat dissipation efficiency is far ahead. It also has excellent electrical insulation and can be directly attached to the core area of the chip to avoid the risk of short circuits. It is very suitable for the extreme heat dissipation scenarios of high-end chips.
Nowadays, diamond thermal management materials are bidding farewell to the small-scale pilot stage in the laboratory and entering the eve of large-scale and industrialization. According to the research report of Zhongtai Securities Co., Ltd., the global market size of diamond heat sinks for high-end AI chips is expected to reach 8.7 billion yuan in 2026, and is expected to rapidly grow to 59.2 billion yuan by 2030, with an average annual compound growth rate of more than 50%. According to calculations by Huafu Securities Co., Ltd., the AI computing power diamond cooling market is expected to reach 48 billion yuan to 90 billion yuan in 2030; if the increase in consumer electronics, new energy vehicles, industry and other scenarios is taken into account, it is expected to form a market space of 100 billion yuan in the long run.
Diamonds "grow" new skills
In the courtyard of the SINOMACH Diamond Grinding Park, a retired six-sided press is quietly displayed. In 1963, relying on the Zhengzhou Abrasives and Grinding Tools and Grinding Research Institute (hereinafter referred to as the Third Grinding Institute) to carry out technical research, China's first artificial diamond was born in Zhengzhou, breaking the long-term foreign technology monopoly in one fell swoop and filling the gap in the domestic industry. After more than 60 years of continuous development, from traditional grinding and cutting tools to now cross-border empowerment of high-end chip cooling, Zhengzhou’s diamond industry has completed a gorgeous transformation, seizing the opportunity and leading the way on the new computing power track.
2026 is defined by the industry as the "first year of the diamond cooling strategy". Zhengzhou, which is rooted in the fertile soil of the super-hard materials industry, took the lead in completing technological breakthroughs and scene implementation, and the traditional diamond industry "grew" "new skills" adapted to the era of computing power.
In the laboratory of the Functional Diamond Research Institute, a piece of diamond is "growing", with carbon atoms deposited layer by layer, and the transparent crystal thickening little by little at high temperatures; in the next door inspection room, a processed 4-inch diamond heat sink is as thin as a cicada's wings and completely translucent. From "growing out" to being able to "stick on", this diamond has completed a role transformation from an industrial raw material to a key component for chip heat dissipation.
But "growing out" is only the first step. Freshly produced diamond is hard and brittle, easily warped, and has a rough and uneven surface, making it impossible to effectively bond with the chip. Chen Yupeng, general manager of the SINOMACH Diamond Market Support Center and director of the Functional Diamond Research Institute, told reporters that the team will perform a series of precision processing such as cutting, grinding, and polishing on the crystal to make its surface roughness reach the nanometer level, and then metallize it so that it can be firmly "attached" to the chip. After repeated optimization of the growth process and processing control, the warpage of the heat sink is controlled within 10 microns.
Chen Yupeng showed reporters a clear technical roadmap: At present, Sinomach Diamond has completed the full technical roadmap in the three directions of single crystal diamond, polycrystalline diamond, and diamond copper. Among them, diamond-copper composite materials have achieved stable batch supply, with heat dissipation efficiency up to half that of pure diamond, and the price is only one-tenth of pure diamond; polycrystalline diamond heat sinks have been delivered in batches; single-crystal diamond substrates have the highest thermal conductivity and are currently the most technologically advanced direction, and scientific and technological research is being accelerated.
Production capacity is simultaneously increasing, and global layout is accelerating. Relying on the Zhengzhou R&D headquarters and three major industrial bases in Yichuan, Luoyang and Hami, Xinjiang, the company has invested nearly 1 billion yuan in total and is equipped with more than 1,000 sets (sets) of professional production and processing equipment to build an integrated industrial system of "R&D + production + processing". At present, it has an annual production capacity of more than 40,000 3-inch diamond heat sinks. The products are widely used in aerospace, military industry, high-end semiconductor and other fields. They are supplied to domestic and foreign leading enterprises in batches, and their market recognition continues to rise.
"Diamond heat sinks have changed from a "luxury product" to a "necessity" for AI high-power chips." Chen Yupeng said that with its complete industrial chain and cost advantages, China is quickly breaking foreign monopoly and becoming the core production capacity supplier of diamond heat dissipation materials in the world.
Shao Zengming, chairman of Henan Power Diamond Co., Ltd., also believes that my country's high-end diamond materials have entered the international semiconductor industry chain, which has also helped superhard materials expand from industrial processing tools to high-end functional materials, allowing my country's superhard materials industry to continue to maintain its leading position.
The whole chain collaborates to open a new game
SINOMACH Diamond’s technological breakthrough and industrialization breakthrough are a vivid epitome of the transformation and upgrading of Zhengzhou’s superhard materials industry. With the strong rise of the new diamond cooling track, Zhengzhou's traditional superhard materials industry chain has jumped out of low-end homogeneous competition and opened up a new value space of high-end, high added value, and high precision.
The market has the keenest sense of smell. In April this year, Sugon Data Infrastructure Innovation Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. launched the world's first megawatt-level phase-change immersion liquid-cooled complete cabinet. It was the first time in the domestic liquid cooling industry to realize the large-scale application of diamond copper thermal conductive materials, which increased the system thermal conductivity by 80% and helped improve chip performance by 10%. In June, the fourth-generation semiconductor material manufacturing base of Zhongke Fenyan (Henan) Superhard Materials Co., Ltd. signed a contract to settle in Zhengzhou High-tech Industrial Development Zone, with a planned investment of 1.5 billion yuan and the layout of 500 related equipment for mass production of 2-inch to 4-inch single crystal wafers. The annual output value can reach 3 billion yuan after reaching production.
Cross-domain collaboration is a major blow for Zhengzhou’s diamond industry. In August this year, the "Diamond-Semiconductor Industry Chain Matchmaking Conference" hosted by the Superhard Materials Branch of the China Machine Tool Industry Association was held in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. As the first supporting event of the 2026 Diamond Industry Conference, a Zhengzhou delegation sent invitations to Yangtze River Delta semiconductor companies to connect with high-quality companies in Suzhou's wafer manufacturing, chip design, packaging and testing and other fields, build a normalized exchange and cooperation platform, and promote superhard materials companies and Yangtze River Delta semiconductor companies to deepen cooperation in joint research and development, project implementation and other aspects.
The 2026 Diamond Industry Conference will be held in Shanghai in November, covering the promotion of Zhengzhou High-tech Zone, academician expert forum, special viewing meeting of cultivated diamonds and multiple industry docking activities, embracing the global industrial chain with a more open attitude.
From China's first artificial diamond, which broke the foreign technology blockade, to the chip cooling core material that empowers the global computing power industry, Zhengzhou has completed a magnificent transformation from "the origin of superhard materials" to the "highland of high-end computing power materials". The city is relying on its hard core strength to write a new chapter in the development of the superhard materials industry in the era of computing power.
