MRI: Acquistion of Femtosecond UV-Laser Ablation System for Elemental & Isotopic Mapping by Hyphenated Sector Field ICP-MS

美国国家科学基金会主要研究仪器项目为飞秒激光烧蚀（LA）固体采样系统申请资金，用于与新获得的扇形磁场电感耦合等离子体质谱计（SF-ICP-MS）的分析耦合（“连合”）。LA-SF-ICP-MS系统用于各种材料和研究应用的高分辨率二维元素和同位素分析。该系统将极大地扩展最近成立的生物金属和金属学中心（CBM）的分析能力，CBM是波士顿大学医学院和工程学院的一个独特的多学科分析设施。CBM是全国唯一的此类专用设施。该设施的核心是通过美国国立卫生研究院国家研究资源中心资助的共享仪器补助金获得的最先进的SF-ICP-MS仪器。这种强大的仪器是确定的超痕量元素和同位素分析在各种各样的矩阵的金标准。部署拟议的连字符分析仪器将为当地和整个地区的研究人员提供无与伦比的分析资源，这将加速在广泛领域的前沿发现。需要资金购买仪器，将SF-ICP-MS仪器与强大的互补技术，高分辨率激光烧蚀固体取样连接起来。所提出的系统将确定的元素和同位素分析与高分辨率飞秒激光辅助空间采样相结合，广泛应用于各种材料基底。该应用程序提出以新方式结合新技术解决新问题，并利用当前可用的分析能力和跨学科专业知识。将通过使用连字符分析仪器受益的合作机构包括波士顿美术博物馆、劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室、爱尔兰博物馆、哈佛大学和波士顿大学公共卫生学院以及美国地质调查局等。访问将向整个地区需要这种先进分析仪器进行科学探究的合格学生、教职员工和研究人员开放。高级科学家、研究生研究人员、研究生、本科生和设施工作人员将直接参与使用所要求的仪器。该连字符系统将作为共享协作用户资源与其他重要的机构分析设施（包括波士顿大学质谱资源）联合管理。将着重强调跨学科的互动以及教育和培训。设施工作人员将开发培训课程，促进分析方案的开发，协助合作科学家进行实验设计和执行，并组织内部和外部会议，以促进先进质谱仪器和相关连通性技术在广泛研究项目和应用中的应用。高中、本科、研究生和研究生阶段的教育活动将与正在进行的分析工作相结合，以促进学生、受训人员、高级调查员和资源人员之间的正式和非正式互动。区域、国家和国际科学交流已经开始运作，并有望随着项目资助而扩大。将鼓励利用LA-ICP-MS仪器开辟新的和扩大的研究机会。

CBET-0821304GoldsteinThis NSF Major Research Instrumentation project requests funding for a femtosecond laser ablation (LA) solid sampling system for analytical coupling ("hyphenation") to a newly-acquired magnetic sector field inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometer (SF-ICP-MS). The grant hyphenated LA-SF-ICP-MS system is intended for high-resolution two-dimensional elemental and isotopic profiling in a diverse range of materials and research applications. The system will greatly expand the analytical capabilities of the recently-established Center for Biometals and Metallomics (CBM), a unique multidisciplinary analytical facility at the Boston University School of Medicine and College of Engineering. The CBM is the only dedicated facility of its kind in the nation. The centerpiece of the facility is a stateof- the-art SF-ICP-MS instrument acquired through a Shared Instrument Grant funded by the National Center for Research Resources, NIH. This powerful instrument is the gold standard for definitive ultra-trace elemental and isotopic analyses in a wide variety of matrices. Deployment of the proposed hyphenated analytical instrumentation will provide researchers locally and throughout the region with an unparalleled analytical resource that will accelerate lead-edge discovery in a wide range of fields.Funds are requested for instrument acquisition to hyphenate the SF-ICP-MS instrument with a powerful and complementary technology, high-resolution laser ablation solid sampling. The proposed system couples definitive elemental and isotopic analysis with high-resolution femtosecond laser-assisted spatial sampling for wide-ranging application involving a variety of material substrates. The application proposes to address new questions with new technologies coupled in new ways and capitalizes on presently available analytical capabilities and interdisciplinary expertise. Collaborations that will benefit through use of the hyphenated analytical instrumentation include the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Museum of Ireland, Harvard and Boston University Schools of Public Health, and the US Geological Service, amongst others. Access will be open to qualified students, staff, and researchers throughout the region who require this advanced analytical instrumentation for scientific inquiry. Senior scientists, postgraduate researchers, graduate students, undergraduates, and facility staff will be directly involved in utilizing the requested instrumentation. The hyphenated system will be managed as a shared-collaborative user resource allied to other significant institutional analytical facilities, including the Boston University Mass Spectrometry Resource. A strong emphasis will be placed on interdisciplinary interaction as well as education and training. Facility staff will develop training courses, facilitate analytical protocol development, assist collaborating scientists with experimental design and execution, and organize internal and external conferences to promote the use of advanced mass spectrometry instrumentation and allied hyphenated technologies for application in a wide array of research programs and applications. Educational activities at the high school, undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate levels will be integrated with ongoing analytical operations to facilitate both formal and informal interaction amongst students, trainees, senior investigators, and resource staff. Regional, national, and international scientific exchange is already operative and is expected to expand with project funding. Novel utilization, pilot experimentation and technology development will be encouraged to open new and expanded research opportunities using LA-ICP-MS instrumentation.