MRI: Acquisition of an Electron Microprobe

该主要研究仪器计划（MRI）资助购买电子探针微分析仪（EPMA）。支持还与地球科学仪器和设施项目部门的资金相结合。EMPA分析是一种重要的、多功能的天然和合成固体材料化学表征技术。EPMA是迄今为止量化矿物中主要元素和微量元素丰度的最重要方法，EPMA数据对于我们理解行星形成、成矿过程、火山动力学、地球内部过程、非生物和生物矿物形成以及稀土元素和其他具有经济价值的微量元素融入矿物中至关重要。EPMA在材料科学和工程领域的应用也越来越广泛，例如，电池、二氧化碳封存和通过合成无机固体的杂质分布等方面的创新工作现在成为可能。新的EMPA将取代1988年投入使用的老旧仪器，该仪器现已过时，易受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。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以及区域机构的教育机会。EPMA通过检测和表征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。现代可靠的EPMA对于直接支持VT的许多研究人员的工作至关重要，并为校园内的其他仪器（如透射电子显微镜（TEM）和二次离子质谱法（SIMS））提供有价值的“预处理”链接。在过去的半个世纪里，来自VT的EPMA实验室的数据为科学和工程研究做出了贡献，涉及数百篇已发表的摘要、论文和学生论文。在VT的地球科学中，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分析将支持实地研究、地质年代学研究、地壳流体实验和深行星实验岩石学。获得一台新的EPMA将为VT提供新的能力，包括同步阴极发光成像和痕量/主要元素测绘，这对几个学院的地质年代学工作越来越重要。它还将允许对天然和合成材料中关键轻元素的丰度和分布进行精确量化。最后，在某些情况下，它将提高检测和量化痕量金属的能力。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

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.