gems, chrysoberyl, alexandrite, synthetic alexandrite, crystal growth, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), Tairus, Kyocera, flux growth, Czochralski, zone melting

Infrared spectroscopy provides a means to distinguish natural from synthetic alexandrites in the range 2000–4200 cm⁻¹, as determined by a study of spectra obtained from 15 natural and 28 synthetic alexandrites from a variety of sources. The technique is nondestructive and, with Fourier transform instrumentation, extremely rapid. It is especially useful for identifying stones that contain no distinguishing inclusions.