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焦拉曼显微镜。拉曼光谱是一种无损分析技术，可以提供有关固体和液体中化学结构、成分、结晶度和分子相互作用的详细信息，从而在地质、生命和材料科学中得到广泛应用。该资助的重大研究仪器（MRI）项目的战略任务是建立一个具有实验能力的协作拉曼光谱实验室，其目的是：1）加强新墨西哥矿业技术研究所（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。这个新拉曼设施的研究将为四名早期职业教师提供支持，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解决与社会直接相关的问题。该仪器及其软件易于使用，可完全控制数据采集、分析和显示，从而实现其他复杂概念的可视化，例如表征合成宝石与天然宝石、流体和熔体包裹体、生物分子以及地球最古老岩石中的化石有机物和环境中存在的气溶胶。这个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新墨西哥州大学和国家实验室的合作。新设施还将向本科生和研究生、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（例如水资源教育项目、流体和矿物暑期学校）开放，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 XRD 实验室合作，提供用于矿物表征的拉曼仪器，以便与新墨西哥州矿物爱好者社区互动并促进推广活动。Horiba LabRAM HR Evolution 高分辨率共焦拉曼显微镜配备 266 nm UV 激光器和 532 nm VIS 激光器（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，还可以处理水浸样品。 266 nm 紫外激光改善了有机分子的荧光抑制，紫外激发提高了拉曼散射效率和信号灵敏度。紫外线激发的另一个优点是特定复合物的共振增强，促进了用于研究材料和流体的化学和物理性质的新拉曼方法的发展。电动 XY 载物台、四个显微镜物镜和一个 40 倍 UVB 物镜为不同的应用提供了多功能性，并且与多种类型的实验池兼容（即用于流体/熔融夹杂物的加热/冷却台、用于水性形态形成实验的毛细管流体池和/或热液金刚石砧池、用于气溶胶的流动系统等）。新的 3D 映射技术（Horiba SWIFT 和 Duoscan）提供了改进的映射功能，空间分辨率为 0.5-1 µm。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具有其他新应用。通过购买该拉曼仪器开展的研究活动将允许整合新墨西哥理工学院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）通过研究化石和活跃地热和热液-沉积系统中地质材料中的石油和流体包裹体来研究地壳中的流体，ii）矿床中关键矿物的流体-矿物界面反应和特性，iii）地壳深处的矿物，为地球动力学模型提供信息，iv）现代和古代近地表环境（包括火星类似物）中微化石和微生物沉积物的生物特征，以及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。该奖项由地球科学部的仪器和设施计划资助。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力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 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.