MRI: Acquistion of Femtosecond UV-Laser Ablation System for Elemental & Isotopic Mapping by Hyphenated Sector Field ICP-MS

CBET-0821304 Goldstein该NSF重大研究仪器项目要求为飞秒激光烧蚀（LA）固体采样系统提供资金，用于分析耦合（“连字符”）到新获得的磁扇区场电感耦合等离子体质谱仪（SF-ICP-MS）。LA-SF-ICP-MS系统用于高分辨率二维元素和同位素分析，适用于各种材料和研究应用。该系统将大大扩展最近成立的生物金属和金属组学中心（CBM）的分析能力，该中心是波士顿大学医学院和工程学院的一个独特的多学科分析设施。煤层气是该国唯一的专用设施。该设施的核心是一个国家的最先进的SF-ICP-MS仪器通过共享仪器赠款由国家研究资源中心，NIH资助。这款功能强大的仪器是各种基质中确定性超痕量元素和同位素分析的黄金标准。部署拟议的联用分析仪器将为当地和整个区域的研究人员提供无与伦比的分析资源，这将加速在广泛领域的前沿发现。要求为仪器购置提供资金，以便将SF-ICP-MS仪器与强大的互补技术，即高分辨率激光烧蚀固体取样联用。所提出的系统耦合明确的元素和同位素分析与高分辨率飞秒激光辅助空间采样的广泛应用，涉及各种材料基板。该应用程序建议以新的方式结合新技术来解决新问题，并利用现有的分析能力和跨学科的专业知识。将通过使用带连字符的分析仪器而受益的合作包括波士顿美术博物馆、劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室、爱尔兰博物馆、哈佛和波士顿大学公共卫生学院以及美国地质服务局等。访问将开放给合格的学生，工作人员和研究人员在整个地区谁需要这种先进的分析仪器进行科学探究。高级科学家，研究生研究人员，研究生，本科生和设施工作人员将直接参与利用所要求的仪器。该系统将作为与其他重要机构分析设施（包括波士顿大学质谱资源）联合的共享协作用户资源进行管理。重点将放在跨学科互动以及教育和培训上。设施工作人员将开发培训课程，促进分析方案的制定，协助合作科学家进行实验设计和执行，并组织内部和外部会议，以促进先进的质谱仪器和联合联用技术在广泛的研究计划和应用中的应用。在高中，本科，研究生和研究生水平的教育活动将与正在进行的分析操作相结合，以促进学生，学员，高级研究人员和资源人员之间的正式和非正式的互动。区域、国家和国际科学交流已经开始运作，预计将随着项目资金的增加而扩大。新的利用，试点实验和技术开发将被鼓励使用LA-ICP-MS仪器开辟新的和扩大的研究机会。

CBET-0821304GoldsteinThis NSF Major Research Instrumentation project requests funding for a femtosecond laser ablation (LA) solid sampling system for analytical coupling ("hyphenation") to a newly-acquired magnetic sector field inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometer (SF-ICP-MS). The grant hyphenated LA-SF-ICP-MS system is intended for high-resolution two-dimensional elemental and isotopic profiling in a diverse range of materials and research applications. The system will greatly expand the analytical capabilities of the recently-established Center for Biometals and Metallomics (CBM), a unique multidisciplinary analytical facility at the Boston University School of Medicine and College of Engineering. The CBM is the only dedicated facility of its kind in the nation. The centerpiece of the facility is a stateof- the-art SF-ICP-MS instrument acquired through a Shared Instrument Grant funded by the National Center for Research Resources, NIH. This powerful instrument is the gold standard for definitive ultra-trace elemental and isotopic analyses in a wide variety of matrices. Deployment of the proposed hyphenated analytical instrumentation will provide researchers locally and throughout the region with an unparalleled analytical resource that will accelerate lead-edge discovery in a wide range of fields.Funds are requested for instrument acquisition to hyphenate the SF-ICP-MS instrument with a powerful and complementary technology, high-resolution laser ablation solid sampling. The proposed system couples definitive elemental and isotopic analysis with high-resolution femtosecond laser-assisted spatial sampling for wide-ranging application involving a variety of material substrates. The application proposes to address new questions with new technologies coupled in new ways and capitalizes on presently available analytical capabilities and interdisciplinary expertise. Collaborations that will benefit through use of the hyphenated analytical instrumentation include the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Museum of Ireland, Harvard and Boston University Schools of Public Health, and the US Geological Service, amongst others. Access will be open to qualified students, staff, and researchers throughout the region who require this advanced analytical instrumentation for scientific inquiry. Senior scientists, postgraduate researchers, graduate students, undergraduates, and facility staff will be directly involved in utilizing the requested instrumentation. The hyphenated system will be managed as a shared-collaborative user resource allied to other significant institutional analytical facilities, including the Boston University Mass Spectrometry Resource. A strong emphasis will be placed on interdisciplinary interaction as well as education and training. Facility staff will develop training courses, facilitate analytical protocol development, assist collaborating scientists with experimental design and execution, and organize internal and external conferences to promote the use of advanced mass spectrometry instrumentation and allied hyphenated technologies for application in a wide array of research programs and applications. Educational activities at the high school, undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate levels will be integrated with ongoing analytical operations to facilitate both formal and informal interaction amongst students, trainees, senior investigators, and resource staff. Regional, national, and international scientific exchange is already operative and is expected to expand with project funding. Novel utilization, pilot experimentation and technology development will be encouraged to open new and expanded research opportunities using LA-ICP-MS instrumentation.