Upgrade of Research Equipment: Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester

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This support will upgrade the 19 year- old Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer (TIMS) at the University of Rochester. The upgrade, after 19 years of continuous data acquisition for research and training with the instrument, involves replacing the five digital voltmeters that have experienced recent failures by a single data acquisition unit. The upgrade also includes the replacement of the old high voltage unit of the TIMS by a factory-built new unit. This upgrade would allow continued operation of the TIMS facility at Rochester by extending the life and utility of this instrument for another estimated period of 8-10 years. It will also avoid the high price of purchasing a new instrument, which is nearly ten times the price of this upgrade. It is expected that the proposed upgrade and service will bring the Rochester TIMS, that has been functioning well for almost 20 years, to the same standard in the ease and acquisition of quality data as when it was new. This upgrade will have a considerable impact on geochemical research in earth science materials, particularly in precise measurements of isotope ratios of several elements by undergraduate and graduate students and the faculty in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Rochester. The principal investigator, as in the past, will also collaborate in geochemical research with faculty and students of other national and international institutions. Two current female students in Rochester, one graduate and another undergraduate, and very likely several more, will be directly involved in research with this upgraded instrument. The results of all research conducted by the upgraded instrument will be presented in national and international meetings and published in peer-reviewed journals.