MRI: Acquisition of an Electron Microprobe

这项重大研究仪器计划(MRI)拨款支持购买电子探针微型分析仪(EPMA)。还利用地球科学仪器和设施方案司的资金提供支助。EMPA分析是对天然和合成固体材料进行化学表征的一种关键的多功能技术。EPMA是迄今为止量化矿物中主要和微量元素丰度的最重要的方法，而EPMA数据对于我们了解行星形成、成矿过程、火山动力学、地球内部的过程、非生物和生物矿物形成以及稀土元素和其他有经济价值的微量元素在矿物中的结合是至关重要的。EPMA也变得越来越与更广泛的材料科学和工程相关，现在有可能在电池、二氧化碳封存和合成无机固体中的杂质分布等方面进行创新工作。新的EMPA将取代1988年投入使用的老化仪器，该仪器现在已过时，容易受到主要部件严重故障的影响。该仪器也缺乏现代研究的关键功能。该新仪器将支持弗吉尼亚理工大学(VT)正在进行的研究工作，并将促进新的研究方向和改善地球科学内外和区域机构的教育机会。EPMA通过检测和表征当电子束聚焦在样品上时产生的X射线，在微米尺度上对材料的成分进行量化。要直接支持VT的许多研究人员的工作，并为校园内的其他仪器提供有价值的“前处理”链接，如透射电子显微镜(TEM)和二次离子质谱仪(SIMS)，现代和可靠的EPMA是必不可少的。在过去的半个世纪里，来自VT的EPMA实验室的数据为与数百篇已发表的摘要、论文和学生论文相关的科学和工程研究做出了贡献。在弗吉尼亚大学地球科学学院内，EPMA对于研究地壳的起源和演化、地球和地外行星的深部地幔过程、生命的早期演化、成矿过程、火山系统的演化、控制自然和合成系统中矿物平衡的过程以及地球的挥发性循环(特别是关于碳和硫)的小组至关重要。EPMA分析将支持现场研究、地质年代学研究、地壳流体实验和深部行星实验岩石学。收购新的EPMA将为VT提供新的能力，包括同时进行阴极发光成像和痕量/主元素测绘，这对几个教职人员的地质年代学工作越来越重要。它还将允许精确量化天然和合成材料中关键轻元素的丰度和分布。最后，它将在某些情况下提高检测和量化痕量金属的能力。这一奖项反映了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。

This Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) grant supports acquisition of an Electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA). Support is also leveraged with funds from the Division of Earth Sciences Instrumentation and Facilities Program. EMPA analysis is a critical and multi-functional technique for chemical characterization of natural and synthetic solid materials. EPMA is by far the most important method for quantifying the abundance of major and trace elements in minerals, and EPMA data are crucial for our understanding of planetary formation, ore-forming processes, volcano dynamics, processes in the Earth’s interior, abiotic and biotic mineral formation, and incorporation of Rare Earth Elements and other economically valuable trace elements into minerals. EPMA is also becoming increasingly relevant to a broader spectrum of materials science and engineering, with innovative work now possible on, for example, batteries, CO2 sequestration, and impurity distribution through synthetic inorganic solids. The new EMPA will replace an aging instrument which was commissioned in 1988 and is now obsolete and vulnerable to critical failure of major components. This instrument also lacks key functionality for modern research. The new instrument will support ongoing research efforts at Virginia Tech (VT) and will facilitate new research directions and improved educational opportunities within and outside geosciences and at regional institutions.EPMA provides quantification of the compositions of materials at the micrometer scale through detection and characterization of the X-Rays that are produced when an electron beam is focused on a sample. A modern and reliable EPMA is essential to directly support the work of many researchers at VT and to provide valuable ‘pre-processing’ links to other instrumentation on campus, such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). During the past half-century, data from VT’s EPMA labs have contributed to science and engineering studies related to hundreds of published abstracts, papers, and student theses. Within Earth Sciences at VT, EPMA is critical for groups researching the origin and evolution of Earth’s crust, deep mantle processes in Earth and extraterrestrial planets, the early evolution of life, ore-forming processes, the evolution of volcanic systems, processes governing the equilibration of minerals in natural and synthetic systems, and Earth’s volatile cycles (particularly concerning carbon and sulfur). EPMA analysis will support field-based research, geochronologic studies, crustal-fluids experimentation, and deep-planet experimental petrology. Acquisition of a new EPMA will provide VT with new capabilities, including simultaneous cathodoluminescence imaging and trace/major elemental mapping, which is increasingly important for the geochronological work of several faculty. It will also permit precise quantification of the abundance and distribution of critical light elements in natural and synthetic materials. Finally, it will improve capabilities to detect and quantify trace metals by an order of magnitude in some cases.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.