January 17, 2008
Rubies II
Much better images of the synthetic ruby crystals mentioned in the previous post are now available, thanks to the assistance of Dr. David Saja of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Each of the two images posted below is a montage of four snapshots taken on a microscope at different focal depths.
Note that the surfaces of the crystals are not entirely clean--there are residues of the lithium molybdate flux used as a growth medium (which could be dissolved away with a strong acid or base).
Below is another image of a natural ruby crystal from the collections of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (from Cascade Canyon, Los Angeles County, CA).
Natural ruby crystals are most commonly found in metamorphic rocks, where they have grown within a solid medium that often does not permit planar crystal faces to develop (because other crystals are in the way). It is much easier to grow faceted, euhedral crystals from a liquid or vapor.
Posted by jav12 at January 17, 2008 08:49 PM
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Comments
Wow! Thanks so much for these, I love them, especially that first shot. I'd give anything to handle one of these in person, maybe one day I'll be so lucky.
Posted by: Rubies at April 26, 2008 06:06 PM