MRI: Acquisition of an Imaging TOF-SIMS System for Multidisciplinary Earth, Energy, & Environmental Research

科罗拉多矿业学院获得的成像飞行时间二次离子质谱仪（TOF-SIMS）仪器为空气和湿度敏感样品的分析创造了一个开放的设施，满足了学术、工业和国家实验室研究人员的独特需求。该仪器提供的先进化学分析将直接支持国家感兴趣的矿物提取、能源产生和储存、先进冶金合金和药物组织相互作用等领域。例如，该仪器将允许检测金属中可能导致机械故障的少量分离杂质。在矿物提取中，可以研究关键矿床的分布和化学性质，以优化精炼和减少废物流。TOF-SIMS可以显示原子如何融入和降解电池电极，导致更短的寿命或故障。该项目将(1)建立一个位于中心、易于访问的能力，以满足学术、工业和国家实验室研究人员的独特需求，支持国家利益领域的变革性研究；(2)促进先进技术培训和包容性劳动力发展，提供培训和使用最先进仪器的机会。收购了最先进的TOF-SIMS仪器套件，为美国传统和环境敏感样品的多学科研究以及新兴的TOF-SIMS应用创造了独特的能力。该系统配置包括(1)用于处理空气敏感样品的转移容器，(2)用于对样品进行切片的原位聚焦离子束（FIB），以及(3)用于表征无机和有机物质的分析仪和离子源。TOF-SIMS具有高空间分辨率（~60 nm）和卓越的化学灵敏度（低至十亿分之一），具有几乎所有材料的3-D成分分析和横向/深度映射。这些能力为理解纳米尺度材料的化学性质开辟了新的途径，在纳米尺度上材料的性能通常是确定的。该大学对地球、能源和环境的独特关注为将TOF-SIMS应用于新兴应用提供了机会，特别是在地球科学、资源回收、新兴光伏中的杂质、离子导体的传输动力学、生物药物输送和冶金合金开发方面。将SIMS应用于这些问题将拓宽该技术的应用空间，并为这些领域中许多长期存在的问题提供答案。

The acquisition of an Imaging Time-Of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer (TOF-SIMS)instrument at the Colorado School of Mines creates an open facility for the analysis of air and moisture sensitive samples that meets the unique needs of academic, industrial, and national laboratory researchers. The advanced chemical analysis afforded by this instrument will directly support areas of national interest in mineral extraction, energy generation and storage, advanced metallurgical alloys, and drug-tissue interactions. For example, the instrument will allow detection of small amounts of segregated impurities in metals that can cause mechanical failures. In mineral extraction, the distribution and chemistry of critical ore deposits can be studied to optimize refining and reduce waste streams. TOF-SIMS can show how atoms incorporate into and degrade battery electrodes, causing shorter lifetimes or failures. This project will (1) build a centrally located, easily accessible capability that meets the unique needs of academic, industrial, and national laboratory researchers, supporting transformative research in areas of national interest; and (2) contribute to advanced technical training and inclusive workforce development, providing training and access to a state-of-the-art instrument.Acquisition of a state-of-the-art TOF-SIMS instrument suite creates a unique capability in the U.S. for multidisciplinary research in conventional and environmentally sensitive samples and for emerging TOF-SIMS applications. The system configuration includes (1) a transfer vessel for handling air-sensitive samples, (2) an in-situ focused ion beam (FIB) for sectioning samples, and (3) analyzers and ion sources for characterizing both inorganic and organic species. TOF-SIMS enables high spatial resolution (~60 nm) and exceptional chemical sensitivity (down to parts per billion) with 3-D compositional profiling and lateral / depth mapping in virtually all materials. These capabilities open new avenues for understanding the chemistry of materials at nanometer length scales where the performance of materials is often determined. The University's unique focus on Earth, Energy, and Environment provides opportunities to apply TOF-SIMS to emerging applications, specifically in geosciences, resource recovery, impurities in emerging photovoltaics, transport kinetics in ionic conductors, biological drug delivery, and metallurgical alloy development. The application of SIMS to these problems will broaden the application space for the technique and provide answers to many of the persistent questions in those fields.