Laboratory
Facilities include several dedicated-function laboratories:
- A mass spectrometry laboratory
- A plasma facility
- An 800 square feet clean laboratory
- A laboratory for mineral separation and rock crushing
- A wet chemistry laboratory
- A laboratory with extraction lines for preparing samples for stable isotope analysis
Major Equipment
The facility has six mass spectrometers, which, in order of age, are:
- A fully automated 9 collector Finnigan MAT 262 mass spectrometer equipped with a RPQ-system for increased abundance sensitivity and a 13 sample touret. This second mass spectrometer will be used for Sr, Nd, and U isotope analyses by positive thermal ionization.
- A Finnigan Delta plus XP stable isotope mass spectrometer, with autosampler, GC and elemental analyzer.
- A high resolution magnetic sector ICP-MS Finnigan ELEMENT XR coupled with a New Wave 193nm laser system, dedicated to laser ablation analyses.
- An Agilent 7500cs quadrupole ICP-MS with collision cell.
- A multi collector ICP-MS: ThermoElectron Neptune. This instrument is routinely used for Nd, Pb, Hf, Hg and Os isotope analysis.
- A Thermofisher ELEMENT2 with ESI autosampler. This instrument is used for analyses of solutions.
Peripherals instrumentation for the ICP-MS focus on inlet systems. The following inlet systems are available in the program: APEX, Aridus, ESI Microfast system for introduction of volatile organic compounds and CETAC HGX-200 cold vapor generator. Other peripheral equipment includes a Frantz magnetic separator, a Tekran mercury analyzer and am Anton-Paar High Pressure Asher.
For more information contact facility director Vincent Salters.