Spectroscopy

Absorption and emission spectra

– In the majority of gemstones, colour is due to the presence in the stone of one
or more of the eight transition elements.
– These elements are either present as trace impurities (e.g. chromium in
emerald and ruby, nickel in chrysoprase) or as an integral part of the gem’s
chemical composition (e.g. copper in malachite, manganese in rhodonite).
– In order to discover which wavelengths have been absorbed by a gem it is
necessary to inspect it using an instrument called a spectroscope which spreads
out the light from the gemstone into its spectral colours.
 In some cases, instead of absorbing gemstones tend to emit some part
of the visible light.
 These wavelengths produce “Fluorescent Lines” and the spectrum seen
through the spectroscope is called “ Emission Spectrum”.

Emission spectrum of the Ruby

Prism Spectroscope
The prism spectroscope will squeeze the red end of the
spectrum making it difficult to see some of the
absorption lines in that end.
However, the prism models will usually have a focus slide
control and a light slit control that allows for adjustments
in the amount of light entering the unit
Diffraction grating spectroscope
 Spectrum is produced by a diffraction grating.
 The grating usually takes the form of a plate of glass on witch are
printed a series of very fine equidistant parallel lines( 15000 –
30000 lines per inch) printed on the glass photographically.
Spectrum is evenly distributed.
Whole range is in focus.
Simple construction and hence cheap.
Spectrum is diluted due to overlapping of multiple
spectra.
 Usually coloured gemstones gives the absorption spectrum
except Zircon.
 Due to presence of rare earth elements colourless Zircon gives
absorption spectrum.

Absorption spectrum of the Zircon