Identification of natural and synthetic amethyst using LA-ICP-MS

Abstract

Quartz such as amethyst is one of gem materials which have a lot of circulation and there are many amethysts difficult to identify natural or synthetic. In this study, we used LA-ICP-MS for trace element analysis of natural and synthetic amethyst. We found discriminat analysis with  with ⁷Li, ⁹Be, ¹¹B, ²³Na, ²⁷Al, ³⁹K, ⁴⁵Sc, ⁴⁷Ti, ⁶⁶Zn, ⁶⁹Ga, ⁷²Ge, ⁹⁰Zr and ²⁰⁸Pb is a good indicator for the identification of natural and synthetic amethyst.