MRI: Acquisition of a Laser Ablation - Inductively Coupled Plasma - Triple Quadrupole - Mass Spectrometer (LA-ICP-QQQ-MS) System For Research and Education

这一重大研究仪器奖支持收购安捷伦8900三重四极杆电感耦合等离子质谱仪(ICP-QQQ)，该仪器配备了具有大物体室(LOC)的相干ExciStar XS准分子激光器(LA)。这台LOC-LA-ICP-QQQ下一代研究仪器将在考古学、生物科学、环境科学、法医人类学和地球科学领域开辟新的研究前沿。该项目使一个由28名研究人员和14个多学科小组的合作机构组成的国际小组受益，他们可以在爱达荷州立大学(ISU)进行独特的材料分析并进行多样化的研究。该仪器将允许对2-275原子质量单位范围内的元素进行化学分析。该仪器将作为ISU所有教职员工、学生、研究人员和工作人员的研究和教学系统。这台仪器将由爱达荷州考古、材料和光谱中心以及艺术和文学学院人类学系操作和维护。该仪器将向校园内所有研究人员开放，用于资助和学生研究项目。这一共享工具将有助于增加教职员工和学生的奖学金，吸引外部研究人员，并促进合作。它将吸引和留住不同和杰出的教职员工和学生，加强教与学，并促进社区支持。这一共享仪器的提供使执行支助股有机会探讨该区域目前不可能解决的研究问题。这对于ISU中相当大比例的女性、农村、土著、西班牙裔和低收入学生来说尤其如此，他们经常在学术之外寻找工作。该仪器将被用来招收少数民族学生进入我们的研究生项目，他们可以在共同PI小组的指导下进行原创性研究。我们将培训学生并让他们了解如何应用复杂的技术来回答自然科学和社会科学中关于过去和现在的挑战性问题，并帮助规划我们地区的未来改善。准分子激光器具有无与伦比的高精度、非破坏性和快速分析、减少污染和深度剖析的能力。所有这一切与LOC相结合，可以为具有挑战性的跨学科样本提供最准确的分析。安捷伦8900是一种多工具质谱仪，允许研究小组对液体、固体和气体进行一系列分析。它引入了分析能力，如以前难以测定的元素的低水平测定，直接等压重叠的分离，以及对新兴纳米材料的快速痕量分析，以将电感耦合等离子体质谱技术的应用扩展到新的分析前沿。这些项目的几个例子是：通过追踪石器的地质来源，调查世界各地的许多人类行为，包括技术开发、决策和流动性；进行大量的地质年代学分析，确定岩石的U-Pb结晶/冷却年龄，Lu-HF数据，评估考古地点的土壤化学剖面，揭示火山沉积物成分随时间的变化，以及河流系统中各种岩石和矿物的微量元素地球化学特征；通过应用新的微量元素分析技术，帮助解决无数法医失踪人口案件，包括身份不明的移民的案件；研究生物、地质和化学系统之间的相互作用如何通过地下水消耗和污染影响人类健康；并调查重金属在细菌毒力中扮演的关键角色，特别是在无脊椎动物宿主中。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 Major Research Instrument award supports the acquisition of an Agilent 8900 Triple Quadrupole – Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometer (ICP-QQQ) coupled with the Coherent ExciStar XS Excimer laser 193nm (LA) with large object chamber (LOC). This LOC-LA-ICP-QQQ next-generation research instrument will open new frontiers of research in archaeology, biological sciences, environmental sciences, forensic anthropology, and geosciences. This project benefits an international group of 28 researchers and 14 cooperating institutions in multidisciplinary groups to conduct unique materials analysis and enable diverse research at Idaho State University (ISU). The instrument will allow chemical analysis of elements ranging from 2–275 atomic mass unit. This instrument will serve as a research and teaching system for all faculty, students, researchers, and staff at ISU. This instrument will be operated and cared for by the Center for Archaeology, Materials, and Spectroscopy Idaho and the Department of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Letters. The instrument will be open to all researchers across campus for grant funded and student research projects. This shared instrument will serve to increase faculty and student scholarship, attract outside researchers, and promote collaboration. It will attract and retain diverse and exceptional faculty and students, enhance teaching and learning, and foster community support. The availability of this shared instrument gives the ISU community the opportunity to explore research questions that are not currently possible in the region. This is especially true for the substantial proportion of female, rural, Indigenous, Hispanic, and low-income students at ISU that often look for employment outside of academia. The LA-ICP-QQQ instrument will be used to recruit minority students to our graduate programs who can conduct original research under mentorship of the co-PI group. We will train and engage students in understanding how they can apply sophisticated techniques to answer challenging questions about the past and today in both the natural and social sciences, as well as to help plan for improved futures in our region.The acquisition of this instrument is a significant improvement in the analytical capabilities of ISU. The Excimer laser is unparalleled in its capability with high-precision, non-destructive and rapid analysis, reduced contamination, and depth profiling. All of this when coupled with the LOC allows for the most accurate analysis for challenging samples across disciplines. The Agilent 8900 is a multi-tool mass spectrometer allows the research groups to conduct an array of analyses for liquids, solids, and gases. It introduces analytical capabilities such as low-level determination of previously difficult elements, separation of direct isobaric overlaps, and fast, trace analysis of emerging nano-scale materials to extend the application of ICP-MS into new frontiers of analysis. Several examples of these projects are: investigation of numerous human behaviors including technological development, decision making, and mobility worldwide through the tracing of stone tools to their geologic sources; conduct numerous geochronology analyses, determine U-Pb crystallization/cooling ages of rocks, Lu- Hf data, assess profiles of soil chemistry at archaeological sites, reveal changes in volcanic sediment composition through time, and fingerprint trace element geochemical signatures in various rocks and minerals in river systems; help solve numerous forensics missing persons cases, including those of unidentified migrants, by applying new trace element analytical techniques; examine how interactions among biological, geological, and chemical systems impact human health via groundwater consumption and contamination; and investigate the pivotal role that heavy metals play in the virulence of bacteria, particularly among invertebrate hosts.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.