Diamond


Summary table of color of diamonds

Blue  boron-containing 
Blue  irradiated 
Green  natural radiation 
Green  irradiated 
Orange  irradiated & heated 
Orange nitrogen-containing
Pink  natural 
Yellow  nitrogen-containing 
Yellow  irradiated & heated 

Images of the absorption spectra of natural color diamonds.

Diamond gemstone spectra: data contributed by the Gemological Institute of America


 All of the data spectra above were obtained at room temperature. For laboratory testing, spectra are usually obtained a very low temperatures to make the sharper bands stand out prominently.

Irradiated diamond absorption spectra.

Some diamonds owe their color to laboratory irradiation. The spectra below are all of laboratory irradiated diamonds. 

Synthetic diamond spectra.

A picture of a polished slice of a deep blue synthetic diamond prepared from a synthetic blue diamond made by GE (45 Kbyte) showing zonation of the boron.


Link to a collection of references to mostly color and visible spectroscopy of diamonds



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revised 3-Jul-2022