Geosciences

Since we started to work with CAMECA IMS 1280 in 2008, we have developed U-(Th)-Pb dating procedures on more than ten kinds of accessory minerals to broaden understanding of in-situ geochronology. The good performance of this instrument made it feasible to date with as small as 2 micron-spot size. We bought the second one (IMS 1280-HR) in 2013 because of the increasing workload. These two instruments are serving a wide range of scientists worldwide. "

LG-SIMS is a critical tool in geoscience research because it can achieve high-precision analyses on very small and shallow samples. "

The high sensitivity and spatial resolution of SIMS opens exciting opportunities to detect traces of past volcanic eruptions in cave deposits, while high-precision oxygen isotope analysis allows reconstruction of past climates in the same materials. By applying SIMS techniques to measure sulfur concentrations and oxygen isotopes in a sample from a cave in Germany, we could, for the first time, directly link a cave record from central Europe with ice core data from Greenland, with the respective volcanic sulfur spikes of the Laacher See eruption as tie points. "

The ability of the LG-SIMS instruments to obtain high-precision oxygen isotopic data from tiny zircon domains allowed us to uncover the earliest evidence of Earth’s hydrological cycle. The fine-tuned instrument performance and reliable data acquisition made it possible to tackle questions that were previously beyond reach. "

SIMS provides a unique opportunity to assess isotopic heterogeneity among individual grains within rocks or sediments. By applying this technique to measure the sulfur isotope composition of micrometer-sized pyrite grains from Lake Cadagno, we were able to demonstrate unambiguously that pyrite preserved the isotopic evolution of the dissolved sulfide pool over the past decades. "

CAMECA large-radius SIMS instruments define state of the art for in situ analysis of isotope ratios from the smallest possible spots. The WiscSIMS IMS 1280 routinely produces better precision and accuracy than previously imagined, enabling new areas of enquiry and discovery from paleoclimatology to zircons to meteoritics. "

The LEAP 4000 HR has allowed us to see radioisotope geologic time in 3D for the first time. It is revolutionizing our view of natural materials, allowing us to use our macro-scale mapping approaches at the scale of the mineral lattice. It is an exciting time to be an Atom Probe geoscientist! "

 The CAMECA LEAP with UV laser pulsing is a powerful tool for 3D nanoscale geochemistry studies. Its introduction just a few years ago has enabled the analysis of a broad range of geological materials, including ground-breaking imaging of sub-micron isotopic distributions. Since the Geoscience Atom Probe Facility was established at Curtin University in 2015, researchers from around the world have visited the facility to make use of the LEAP’s capabilities, resulting in many new insights into geological processes active at the nanoscale. "

Our IMS 7f instrument was just being installed when the 3rd November 2011 earthquake happened. Despite seismic intensity of 7 and subsequent nuclear plant trouble, our university being located 100 km from Fukushima, CAMECA staff could solve the vibration related molecular pump issues and perfectly install the instrument. Since then, the Tohoku University IMS 7f has proven to be a robust machine, stable over time and incredibly versatile. We use it successfully for a wide variety of challenging microanalytical tasks such as characterization of diffusion in solid materials for fuel cells, depth profiles for multi layers in electric devices, behaviors of additional elements in steels or ceramics, dating in geoscience, isotopes analysis in biology. "