Abstract

Replica and transmission electron microscopy reveal that the structure of precious opal consists of amorphous silica spheres having diameters of the order of the wavelength of visible light. In regions displaying vivid diffraction coloration the spheres are very uniform in size and are arranged in close-packed cubic arrays, while in milky colored regions the spheres are randomly sized and disordered. Crystallographic fracture and twinning relationships have been observed in ordered regions.

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