Diamond remarkable characteristics

Diamond has remarkable optical characteristics. Because of its extremely rigid lattice, it can be contaminated by only few types of impurities, such as boron and nitrogen. Combined with the wide transparency (corresponding to the wide band gap of 5.5 eV), this results in clear, colorless appearance of most natural diamonds. Small amounts of defects or impurities (about one part per million) color diamond blue (boron), yellow (nitrogen), brown (lattice defects), green, purple, pink, orange or red. Diamond also has relatively high optical dispersion, that is ability to disperse light of different colors, which results in its characteristic luster. Excellent optical and mechanical properties, combined with efficient marketing, make diamond the most popular gemstone.