Upgrade of the University of Kentucky Electron Probe Microanalyzer

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0001322MoecherThis grant provides partial support for the costs of a software and hardware upgrade for the existing ARL SEMQ electron probe microanalyzer operated by the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Kentucky. The PI is an Associate Professor who has been the Director of the Probe Lab since 1991. The PI and his graduate students will be the primary users of the instrument, however, other faculty and their students in the Department (Prof. Kieran O'Hara, Prof. Susan Rimmer), on campus (Kwok-Wei Ng, Physics Dept.), and in the surrounding area (Eastern Kentucky University, University of Cincinnati, Miami University of Ohio) will make regular use of the instrument. The upgrade consists of new automation (operating system and computer) and new energy dispersive and backscattered detectors for enhanced micro-imaging capabilities. In particular, the PI's research requires the instrument to have X-ray mapping capabilities of major and trace elements. New software that integrates wavelength and energy dispersive detector signals will provide this capability. Projects that will benefit from the upgrade include: (1) chemical and isotopic variability among minerals in polymetamorphic rocks; (2) petrogenetic and stable isotopic studies of pseudotachylyte (melt rocks generated by frictional fusion in brittle fault zones); (3) petrography of sub-glacial sediments and tills; (4) P-T-t studies of metamorphic rocks from the Appalachian orogen; (5) carbonatite petrogenesis; (6) chemical changes in mylonites; and (7) chemical analysis of high temperature superconducting compounds. The acquisition of the new operating and imaging system will also enhance undergraduate instruction and graduate training that are already active on the existing instrument. ***