Acquisition of a Single-Crystal X-ray Diffractometer for Earth and Planetary Materials Research and Education at Northwestern University

这项通过美国国家科学基金会地球科学部颁发的仪器和设施奖将支持购买一台高精度单晶X射线衍射仪，以便在西北大学地球和行星科学系开展专题地球材料研究和教育。X射线衍射法能够在颗粒大小范围内确定矿物，并确定壳幔系统中物质的晶体结构和相关物理性质。该仪器将与皮S独特的高压超声波系统对接，用于地球和行星材料热力学状态方程的基础矿物物理研究。该仪器将安装在新的西北大学EPS综合实验室(Epsilon)，这是一个新的跨学科研究和研究生培训设施，有五个毗邻的实验室，分别是矿物学/矿物物理、稳定同位素地球化学、有机地球化学以及沉积和水化学。皮？S实验室的基础研究目前由教师早期职业发展计划(Career)支持，旨在从原子到地球物理尺度了解地壳和地幔之间水循环的作用。关于水化作用对地幔物质结构和弹性影响的新知识被应用于对地幔深层水的远程(地球物理)探测。此外，该仪器将为西北大学地球材料本科生和研究生课程的专业矿物相分析、表征和应用实验室教学提供更广泛的部门和地区需求。随着PI参与高压地球科学和应用材料研究之间的技术转移，使用拟议的衍射仪进行的研究具有更广泛的影响。

This Instrumentation and Facilities award through the NSF Division of Earth Sciences will support acquisition of a high-precision, single-crystal X-ray diffractometer to carry out topical geomaterials research and education in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS) at Northwestern University. X-ray diffraction allows definitive identification of minerals at the grain-size scale and determination of crystal structures and related physical properties of materials in the crust-mantle system. This instrument will be interfaced with the PI?s unique high-pressure ultrasonic system for basic mineral physics research on thermodynamic equations of state for Earth and planetary materials. The instrument will be installed in the new EPS Integrated Laboratories of Northwestern (EPSILoN), a new interdisciplinary research and graduate training facility with five adjoining laboratories for mineralogy/mineral physics, stable isotope geochemistry, organic geochemistry, and sedimentary and aqueous geochemistry. Basic research in the PI?s laboratory, currently supported by the faculty early career development program (CAREER) seeks to understand the role of water cycling between the crust and mantle from atomic to geophysical scales. New knowledge of the effects of hydration on the structure and elasticity of mantle materials is applied to remote (geophysical) detection of water in the deep mantle. In addition, the instrument will serve broader departmental and regional needs for specialized mineral phase analysis, characterization, and applied laboratory instruction for undergraduate and graduate courses in Earth materials at Northwestern. Research with the proposed diffractometer has broader impacts as the PI engages in technology transfer between high-pressure geosciences and applied materials research.