Identification of gemstone treatments with Raman spectroscopy

Abstract

The newest gemstone treatment concerns brownish diamonds of type IIa. These can be improved to near colorless by an enhancement process developed by General Electric, USA, using high temperature and pressure. A comparison of Raman spectroscopic features in the visible area (luminescence bands) of both treated and untreated colorless diamonds is given. Finally, examples of artificially colored peals and corals and their detection with Raman spectroscopy are shown.