The effect of heat treatment on zircon color and its enhancement mechanism

The effect of heat treatment on zircon color was studied from a new perspective of chromaticity of gemstones. The mechanism behind zircon color enhancement was investigated through the combination of infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and UV-vis spectroscopy. The study reveals that the color of zircon has no significant correlation to the degree of metamorphism, which decreases as heating temperature rises. Type I and Type II defects in zircon are characterized by the deletion of an oxygen atom at the nearest site to Y