Patent Number: 050849093
Section: abstract

Color enhanced topaz, beryl, tourmalines, quartz, diamonds and other gem material products, both natural and synthetic, and the process by which they are color-enhanced are described. In this process rough or finished gemstones of virtually any size, in particular very large single pieces weighing approximately one hundred carats up to 10 kilograms, are placed in a very high energy gamma ray field for extended periods of time, on the order of 50 hrs to 1000 hrs, or more, to give total exposures of 400 megagards up to 8000 megagards. The gamma flux used may be in the range of 0.5 MEV up to 30 MEV or more. In particular, the rays will be substantially higher energy than those available from conventional cobalt 60 or cesium 137 and similar sources.