Acquisition of an Ion Microprobe for Stable Isotope Analysis

EAR-0319230山谷威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校将与该大学合作，建立一个由NSF-MRI资助的离子微探测器实验室。该实验室将是世界上第一个专门用于稳定同位素化学的多探测器/二次离子质谱仪(SIMS)。联合产学研合作将通过加强仪器和技术开发，推动高精度和小光斑尺寸的极限。因此，这个实验室将是唯一适合解决重要问题的实验室。威斯康星州离子微探测器实验室将协同生物科学和工程以及地球科学的新应用。提出了在原位离子探针分析已被证明重要的领域的研究项目，包括：岩石学、古气候学、气象学、材料科学和环境科学，以及在尚未探索潜力的新前沿领域，包括：植物病理学、营养学、生物化学和医学。地球和太阳系研究中的一个悖论是，越来越小的样本往往是回答越来越大的问题的关键。这个项目的智力优势来自于样本大小的急剧减少和将分析点置于空间背景中的能力。这种新的SIMS能力提供了许多令人兴奋和革命性的研究机会，包括但不限于：最早的地球和火星上的大气、海洋和生命的起源；微生物在生物处理与非生物氧化还原循环中的重要性；以及大气二氧化碳的长期记录和地球气候变化与温室气体之间的反馈系统。这项提议的更广泛影响涉及各级教育。许多公共政策领域将受到影响，包括对气候变化、二氧化碳封存、食品掺假、环境补救、健康和国家安全的研究。威斯康星大学有广泛的推广项目，将用来向公众展示这个实验室令人兴奋的结果。

EAR-0319230ValleyThe University of Wisconsin-Madison will establish an Ion Microprobe Laboratory funded by NSF-MRI in partnership with the University. This lab will be the first in the world to dedicate multi-detector/secondary ion mass-spectrometry (SIMS) solely to Stable Isotope Chemistry. Joint university-industry collaboration will push the limits of high accuracy and small spot size through enhancements to the instrument and technique development. Thus, this lab will be uniquely suited to solving important problems. The Wisconsin Ion Microprobe Lab will synergize new applications in Biological Sciences and Engineering, as well as Earth Sciences. Research projects are proposed in areas where in situ ion probe analysis has already proved important, including: petrology, paleoclimatology, meteoritics, materials science, and environmental sciences, as well as in new frontier areas where the potential has not yet been explored, including: plant pathology, nutrition, biochemistry and medicine. A paradox in studies of the Earth and Solar System is that smaller and smaller samples are often critical to answering bigger and bigger questions. The intellectual merit of this project derives from the dramatic reductions of sample size and the ability to put analysis spots into spatial context. This new SIMS capability offers many exciting and revolutionary research opportunities, including, but not limited to: the origins of the atmosphere, oceans, and life on the earliest Earth and Mars; the importance of microbes in biological processing vs. abiotic redox cycling; and the long-term record of atmospheric CO2 and the feedback system between Earth climate change and greenhouse gases. The broader impacts of this proposal involve education at all levels. Many areas of public policy will be impacted including studies of climate change, CO2 sequestration, food adulteration, environmental remediation, health, and national security. The University of Wisconsin has broad outreach programs that will be used to showcase the exciting results from this lab to the general public.***