Gemstone irradiation produce mixtures of blue and yellow-to-brown colors, so heating is required as an additional procedure to remove the yellowish color. In some cases, the new colors induced by artificial irradiation may fade rapidly when exposed to light or gentle heat, so some laboratories submit them to a "fade test" to determine color stability. Sometimes colorless or pink beryls become deep blue upon irradiation, which are called Maxixe-type beryl. However, the color easily fades when exposed to heat or light, so it has no practical jewelry application. Gemstone irradiation The gemstone irradiation is a process in which a gemstone is artificially
Gemstone irradiation enabled the creation of gemstone colors that do not exist or are extremely rare in nature. The term "irradiation" is a very broad one, which covers bombardment by subatomic particles as well as the use of the full range of electromagnetic radiation, including (in order of increasing frequency and decreasing wavelength) infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and gamma rays. Certain natural gemstone colors, such as blue-to-green colors in diamonds, are the results of the exposure to natural radiation in the earth, which is usually alpha or beta particle. The limited penetrating ability of these particles result in partial