Gloria Zhao (Cohort 3) and Phil Diggle (Cohort 1), along with Prof. Mark Newton, were invited to attend the 2018 Gemological Institute of America (GIA) International Gemological Symposium. Phil delivered a talk on how to image diamond down the diffraction limit using confocal photoluminescence microscopy and how this has revealed new insights on the growth of synthetic diamond. Gloria gave a talk on phosphorescence and thermoluminescence of diamond. Both talks were very well received by the 200-plus audience members in the morning session of the first day of the symposium. The remainder of the first day saw talks from leading researchers in their field of diamond science from the synthesis, characterisation and the geology of diamond.

Text: Phil Diggle

Image: Phil Diggle (DST CDT), Ulrika D’Haenens-Johansson (GIA), Gloria Zhao (DST CDT) and Mark Newton (DST CDT). Image courtesy GIA