A New Method for Detecting Be Diffusion-Treated Sapphires: Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)

Abstract

This article describes the first application of laser-induced breakdownspectroscopy (LIBS) to gemology. So far, the detection of Be-diffusedsapphire and ruby has been based on LA-ICP-MS or SIMS, neither of whichis readily available to most laboratories. In this study, we use LIBS todetect beryllium in corundum at very low concentrations (down to similarto2 ppm). This technique is a reliable tool for identifying Bediffusion-treated sapphires, and is affordable for most commercialgemological laboratories. As with other laser-based techniques, LIBS maycause slight damage to a gemstone, but this can be minimized by choosingappropriate instrument parameters.