Laboratory Technician Support: Experimental Mineral Physics and Petrology Facilities at the University of Hawaii at Manoa

地球科学家早就认识到，在实验室环境中产生极端的压力和温度条件，以重现行星内部的条件是非常重要的。这种对主要行星物质的性质、转变和行为的高压实验，为理解地球和其他行星内部深处发生的动力学过程的性质和机制提供了基础。矿物物理和实验岩石学实验室的许多实验室（MPEPL或MPL）的设备，用于测量矿物、高级陶瓷和陶瓷复合材料、单晶和多晶矿物、硅酸盐玻璃和熔体的物理、化学、光谱、微观结构和纳米结构特性，以及在极端条件下合成矿物和材料。该奖项将资助MPL的一名实验室技术员，他将在维护和支持独特的最先进的实验设施和教育基础设施，培训学生和访问研究人员，以及为主要研究人员和设施用户提供技术支持方面发挥关键作用。实验室技术员将为MPL的研究和教育议程提供关键技术支持。(1)由首席研究员领导的多砧压机实验室（MAPLab）已被委托成为一个研究和教学/培训的非现场大容量压机设施，用于高压样品合成和实验岩石学研究。MAPLab设施为在实验室环境中培训初级研究人员提供了一个宝贵的平台，并丰富了高压地球科学教育的课程。(2)X射线Atlas实验室由一位共同研究者领导，从事尖端晶体学研究，专注于表征硅酸盐作为深度函数所经历的不连续结构转变，并一直在开发创新解决方案方面处于领先地位硬件，测量方法和高压研究数据分析软件。X-ray Atlas实验室提供最先进的X射线分析能力，用于在极端和环境条件下对校园内外的广泛研究社区进行地质样品的原位和非原位表征。X射线Atlas实验室还配备了用于高压和高温研究的光谱和激光加热仪器。(3)由另一位合作研究者领导的激光光谱实验室已被委托通过拉曼光谱、布里渊散射和傅里叶变换红外（FTIR）光谱测量振动特性，以及通过激光加热进行高温样品合成和测量。实验室技术员将积极参与所有三名研究人员的研究活动，并帮助委托，维护和支持实验设施。MPL的实验设施为学生研究人员提供了使用最先进的多尺度实验室和设施建立地球科学简历的机会。实验室技术人员积极参与UHM初级研究人员的日常培训，将对研究生和本科生教育的整体质量产生重大影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Geoscientists have long recognized the importance of generating extreme conditions of pressures and temperatures to reproduce in laboratory settings the conditions present in planetary interiors. Such high-pressure experiments on the properties, transformations, and behavior of principal planetary materials provide the basis for understanding the nature and mechanisms of dynamic processes taking place within deep interiors of Earth and other planetary bodies. The many laboratories of the Mineral Physics and Experimental Petrology Laboratory (MPEPL or MPL) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) are equipped for measurements of physical, chemical, spectroscopic, microstructural and nano-structural properties of minerals, advanced ceramics, and ceramic composites, single-crystalline and poly-crystalline minerals, silicate glasses and melts, as well as syntheses of minerals and materials under extreme conditions. This award will fund a laboratory technician in the MPL, who will play a critical role in maintaining and supporting the unique state-of-the-art experimental facilities and educational infrastructure, training students and visiting researchers, and providing technical support to the principal investigators and users of the facilities.The lab technician will provide critical technical support for the research and educational agendas of the MPL. (1) The Multi-Anvil Press Laboratory (MAPLab) led by the lead investigator has been commissioned to become a research and teaching/training ex-situ large volume press facility for high-pressure sample syntheses and experimental petrology research. The MAPLab facilities offer a valuable platform for training junior researchers in a laboratory setting and enrich the curricula for high-pressure geosciences education. (2) The X-ray Atlas Lab led by one of the co-investigators that is engaged in cutting-edge crystallographic research focused on characterization of discontinuous structural transformations that silicates undergo as a function of depth, and has been leading the field in the development of innovative solutions in hardware, measurement methodology and data analysis software for high-pressure research. The X-ray Atlas lab provides state-of-the-art X-ray analytical capabilities for in situ and ex-situ characterization of geologic samples at both extreme and ambient conditions for broad research community on campus and off campus. The X-ray Atlas lab also features spectroscopic and laser-heating instrumentation for high-pressure and high-temperature research. (3) The Laser Spectroscopy Lab led by another co-investigator has been commissioned for measuring vibrational properties by Raman spectroscopy, Brillouin Scattering, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, as well as high-temperature sample syntheses and measurements by laser heating. The lab technician will be actively involved in the research activities of all three investigators, and help to commission, maintain, and support the experimental facilities. The experimental facilities at the MPL provide opportunities for the student researchers to build their scientific resume in geoscience using the state-of-the-art multi-scale laboratories and facilities. The lab technician's active involvement in the day-to-day training of junior researchers at the UHM will have a great impact on the overall quality of graduate and undergraduate education.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.