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Nowadays, he thinks a great deal about ways to increase exports. A main target is the U.S., where his firm's sales will double this year—largely because of the success of an ASEA control device that can check the weight and thickness of a sheet of metal without touching it. ASEA is in the running for a contract to supply $50 million worth of equipment for a high-voltage power line from Bonneville Dam to Los Angeles, and last week Nicolin said that he plans to begin selling synthetic industrial diamonds in the U.S. by next year. Though ASEA will face some rough diamond competition, it can lay claim to one prestigious distinction: the world's first synthetic diamonds were produced in its laboratories.