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产生极端的压力和温度条件的重要性，以便在实验室环境中重现行星内部存在的条件。这些关于主要行星物质的性质、变化和行为的高压实验为理解地球和其他行星体内发生的动力学过程的性质和机制提供了基础。夏威夷大学马诺阿分校(UHM)矿物物理和实验岩石学实验室(MPEPL或MPL)的许多实验室都配备了测量矿物、先进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的设备，以及在极端条件下的矿物和材料合成。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设施的主要研究人员和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的技术支持。(1)由首席调查员领导的多锤压榨实验室(MAPLab)已被委托成为高压样品合成和实验岩石学研究的研究和教学/培训的异地大容量压榨设施。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-射线图谱实验室由一位从事尖端结晶学研究的联合研究员领导，专注于表征硅酸盐随深度发生的不连续结构变化，并在为高压研究开发硬件、测量方法和数据分析软件方面的创新解决方案方面一直处于该领域的领先地位。X射线图谱实验室提供最先进的X射线分析能力，可在极端和环境条件下对地质样品进行现场和非现场表征，供校内外广泛的研究社区使用。X射线图谱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)由另一位合作者领导的激光光谱学实验室已被委托用拉曼光谱、布里渊散射和傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)测量振动性质，以及高温样品的合成和激光加热测量。实验室技术人员将积极参与所有三名研究人员的研究活动，并帮助调试、维护和支持实验设备。MPL的实验设施为学生研究人员提供了利用最先进的多尺度实验室和设施建立他们在地球科学方面的科学简历的机会。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智力优势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.