The diamond cell was created at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) by Charles E. Weir, Ellis R. Lippincott, and Elmer N. Bunting. Within the group, each member focused on different applications of the diamond cell. Van Valkenburg focused on making visual observations, Weir on XRD, Lippincott on IR Spectroscopy. The group members were well experienced in each of their techniques before they began outside collaboration with university researchers such as William A. Bassett and Taro Takahashi at the University of Rochester.