MRI Acquisition of a high-resolution confocal Raman microscope with capabilities to perform liquid and solid experiments

这笔赠款支持购买具有执行液体和固体实验能力的高分辨率共聚焦拉曼显微镜。拉曼光谱是一种非破坏性的分析技术，它可以提供关于固体和液体的化学结构、组成、结晶度和分子相互作用的详细信息，因此在地质、生命和材料科学中有着广泛的应用。这个得到资助的重大研究仪器(MRI)项目的战略使命是建立一个具有实验能力的合作拉曼光谱实验室，旨在：1)加强新墨西哥州采矿与技术研究所(NMT)的多学科和跨学科研究，2)促进外部合作，3)促进NMT的教育使命。这个新的拉曼设施的研究将支持四名早期职业教师，并将通过经济地质学和石油科学以及材料、环境、人类健康和生命科学的研究来解决与社会直接相关的问题。该仪器及其软件易于使用，并提供对数据采集、分析和显示的完全控制，使其他复杂的概念得以可视化，例如表征环境中存在的地球上最古老的岩石和气溶胶中的合成宝石和天然宝石、流体和熔体包裹体、生物分子和化石有机物。这一新设施将产生重大的跨学科和多学科影响，促进校园内以及与其他西北大学和国家实验室的合作。新设施还将面向本科生和研究生、教师科学硕士项目和其他涉及K-12和高中生的新教育项目(如水资源教育项目、流体和矿物暑期学校)，以扩大参与和培训，包括接触尖端分析技术。我们将与矿物博物馆的X射线衍射实验室合作，提供用于矿物表征的拉曼仪器，与新墨西哥州的矿物爱好者社区互动，并促进外展活动。Horiba Labram HR Evolution高分辨率共焦拉曼显微镜配备了266 nm紫外光激光和532 nm可见光激光(绿光)，焦距为800 mm。该仪器极大地提高了光谱分辨率，从而可以对矿物样品、生物分子、气溶胶颗粒中的微观流体、气体和熔体包裹体进行研究，还可以对浸水样品进行研究。266 nm紫外光增强了对有机分子的荧光抑制，紫外光激发提高了拉曼散射效率和信号灵敏度。紫外光激发的另一个优点是特定络合物的共振增强，促进了新的拉曼方法的发展，以研究材料和流体的化学和物理性质。电动XY工作台、四个显微镜物镜和40倍UVB物镜为不同的应用提供了多功能性，并与许多类型的实验室兼容(例如，用于流体/熔融包裹体的加热/冷却工作台，用于水中形态形成实验的毛细流体工作台和/或水热金刚石顶压室，用于气溶胶的流动系统等)。新的3D测绘技术(Horiba Swift和Duoscan)提供了改进的测绘能力，空间分辨率为0.5-1微米。这将允许在微米尺度上表征流体-矿物相互作用，确定流体和熔体包裹体中的相比例，并将在岩石力学和环境科学中有其他新的应用。通过收购这台拉曼仪器实现的研究活动将允许整合新墨西哥理工大学校园内的实验实验室，并为跨学科合作提供坚实的基础。我们团队将涵盖的研究领域包括：i)通过研究化石和活动地热及热液-沉积系统中地质物质中的石油和流体包裹体，研究地壳中的流体；ii)流体-矿物界面反应和矿床中关键矿物的性质；iii)地壳深层矿物，为地球动力学模型提供信息；iv)现代和古代近地表面环境中的微化石和微生物矿床的生物成因特征，包括火星类似物；v)发现环境过程中隐藏的反应途径和机制，以更好地了解其对全球气候、生态系统和人类健康的影响。这一奖项由地球科学部的仪器和设施项目资助。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 grant supports the acquisition of a high-resolution confocal Raman microscope with capabilities to perform liquid and solid experiments. Raman Spectroscopy is a non-destructive analytical technique, that can provide detailed information about chemical structure, composition, crystallinity, and molecular interactions in solids and liquids, thus finding broad applications in geologic, life and material sciences. The strategic mission of this funded Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) project is to build a collaborative Raman spectroscopy laboratory with experimental capabilities, which aims to: 1) strengthen multi- and interdisciplinary research at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMT), 2) foster external collaborations, and 3) promote the education mission of NMT. Research from this new Raman facility will support four early career faculty and will allow solving problems directly relevant to society through research in economic geology and petroleum sciences as well as material, environmental, human health, and life sciences. The instrument and its software are easy to use and provide full control over data acquisition, analysis and display, enabling visualization of otherwise complex concepts such as characterizing synthetic vs. natural gemstones, fluid and melt inclusions, biomolecules, and fossil organic matter in Earth’s oldest rocks and aerosols present in the environment. This new facility will have a significant inter- and multidisciplinary impact fostering collaborations across campus and with other NM universities and national laboratories. The new facility will also be available to undergraduate and graduate students, the Master of Science for Teachers program and other new education programs that involve K-12 and senior high-school students (e.g., Water Resources Education Program, Fluids and Minerals Summer School) broadening participation and training including exposure to cutting-edge analytical techniques. In collaboration with the Mineral Museums XRD laboratory, we will provide access to the Raman instrument for mineral characterization to interact with the New Mexico mineral enthusiast community and to promote outreach activities.The Horiba LabRAM HR Evolution high-resolution confocal Raman microscope is equipped with a 266 nm UV laser and a 532 nm VIS laser (green light) and has a focal length of 800 mm. This instrument greatly improves spectral resolution, which permits carrying out research on microscopic fluid, gas and melt inclusions in mineral samples, biomolecules, aerosol particles and it also allows working with water immersed samples. The 266 nm UV laser improves fluorescence suppression from organic molecules and UV excitation increases Raman scattering efficiency and signal sensitivity. Another advantage of UV excitation is resonance enhancement of specific complexes promoting the development of new Raman methods for investigating chemical and physical properties of materials and fluids. The motorized XY stage, four microscope objectives and a 40x UVB objective provide versatility for different applications and are compatible with many types of experimental cells (i.e., heating/cooling stage for fluid/melting inclusions, capillary fluid cell and/or hydrothermal diamond anvil cell for aqueous speciation experiments, a flow system for aerosols, etc.). The new 3D-mapping technology (Horiba SWIFT and Duoscan) provides improved mapping capabilities with spatial resolution of 0.5-1 µm. This will allow characterization of fluid-mineral interaction at the micron-scale, determination of phase proportions in fluid and melt inclusions and will have other new applications in rock mechanics and environmental sciences. The research activities enabled through the acquisition of this Raman instrument will permit integrating experimental laboratories across New Mexico Tech campus and provide a strong basis for interdisciplinary collaborations. The research areas that our team will cover include: i) fluids in the crust through the study of oil and fluid inclusions in geologic materials in fossil and active geothermal and hydrothermal-sedimentary systems, ii) fluid-mineral interface reactions and properties of critical minerals in ore deposits, iii) minerals in the deep crust, which inform geodynamic models, iv) biogenic features in microfossils and microbial deposits in modern and ancient near Earth surface environments, including Martian analogues, and v) discovering hidden reaction pathways and mechanisms in environmental processes to better understand their impact on global climate, ecosystems, and human health. This award was funded by the Instrumentation and Facilities program in the Earth Science Division.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.