MRI: Acquisition of an electron probe microanalyzer for Earth Science and Materials research and education

This award will provide funds to acquire a state-of-the-art electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) to support numerous funded and ongoing research projects. As a cornerstone instrument within the Center for Materials Characterization, the EPMA is vital to the scientific health of the university and region by providing a versatile platform for the analysis of major, minor, and trace elements to promote NSF-funded research in the solid Earth Sciences and in Materials Science and Engineering. The EPMA will directly enhance undergraduate and graduate student research, teaching, and hands-on experiences through directed research and classroom projects. Adding this instrument will fill a critical need in the regional analytical infrastructure, promote cross-disciplinary research, and greatly enhance the quality and scope of Earth Science and Materials research and education in the Interior Northwest.

Major research objectives for the EPMA include the following: 1. Analysis of major, minor, and trace element compositions and zoning in metamorphic minerals to infer petrogenetic processes and pressure-temperature conditions and evolution; 2. Major, minor, and trace element analysis of igneous minerals to constrain (a) melt evolution at mid-ocean ridges, (b) formation of the mantle lithosphere, and (c) felsic magmagenesis and formation of continental crust (in conjunction with U-Pb geochronology); 3. Major and minor element analysis of functional ceramics, e.g. barium polytitanates and lanthanide perovskites, to evaluate how vacancy-producing chemical substitutions affect physical and electrical properties; 4. Composition maps of tooth enamel to understand mineralization processes of modern teeth (which has implications for interpreting chemical and isotopic data) and trace element uptake; 5. Trace element analysis of minerals for geologic thermometry as applied to understanding the conditions of formation of mylonites and dateable minerals like zircon and titanite; 6. Major and minor element analysis of magnetic shape memory alloys, e.g. Ni-Mn-Ga, to determine micrometer-scale element distributions and their influence on mechanical and magnetic properties; 7. Minor element contamination of materials of interest to the nuclear industry, especially graphite- molten salt interactions; and 8. Major and minor element stoichiometry of transition-metal dichalcogenides for electronics materials research and development.