Nu Sapphire Collision Cell MC-ICP-MS
Our Nu Sapphire MC-CC-ICPMS was installed in July 2023 and has been fully operational since then (see the Youtube video below for the installation process). With dual-path transfer optics, a Sapphire is capable of directing the ion beam along two distinct paths. The “High Energy Path” maintains the high ion energy through out the transfer optics before focusing into the defining slit of the double focusing mass spectrometer, retaining all the key performance of traditional MC-ICP-MS. The “Low Energy Path” diverts the ion beam along a second route to decelerate the beam into a collision/reaction cell. Low energy ions are reacted away in the collision cell by a gas or gas mixture, before the remaining ions get accelerated back to the high energy and focused into the defining slit of the double focusing mass spectrometer. The “Low Energy Path” makes it possible to measure isotopes of elements such as potassium and calcium that are difficult to measure with a traditional MC-ICPMS due to the Ar related interferences.
Our Sapphire is equipped with 16 Faraday cups and one electron multiplier. The Faraday cups include switchable preamp bins capable of switching between 2 on-board resistors of either 1010, 1011, or 1012 ohm resistors. The Sapphire MC-CC-ICPMS
can be connected to a Cetac ASX-112FR autosampler or an Aridus III desolvation nebulizer. The instrument has currently been running K, Fe, Cu, and Mg at high sensitivities.
Clean room
Our chemistry clean laboratory in the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences at UCLA is available for sample preparation, processing, and chemistry. It is currently equipped with 3 laminar flow hoods and 3 class 100 laminar flow workstations. It also contains a water purification system, 2 stations for double sub-boiling distillation, and ample storage spaces. A well-maintained clean room is essential for stable isotope analyses on an MC-ICP-MS.
Experimental petrology laboratory
The newly renovated experimental petrology laboratory houses a high-temperature gas-mixing/vacuum furnace, a new Rockland 150-ton piston cylinder, and the original Kennedy-type kilo-ton piston cylinder.
The high-temperature furnace goes to up to 1700 ºC and can mix Ar, N2, CO, and CO2 to fulfill requirements of different oxygen fugacity requirements. It is also set up to have the capability of conducting experiments in vacuum to up to 1500 ºC.
The Rockland 150-ton piston cylinder was delivered in April, 2024 and has been fully installed, tested, and calibrated as of December, 2024. With a 1/2-inch pressure vessel and barium carbonate cells, it is capable of achieving up to 1700 ºC and 3.5 GPa. An additional 3/4-inch pressure vessel is being purchased to conduct experiments with larger samples.
The Kennedy-type kilo-ton piston cylinder was the original prototype made in-house by professor George Clayton Kennedy (1919 – 1980). With a powerful hydraulic press, it is uniquely capable of running 1-inch assembly experiments at high pressures.
Photo gallery of facilities in the experimental petrology lab:
Other geochemistry/cosmochemistry facilities in EPSS
UCLA Meteorite Collection (https://meteorites.ucla.edu/)
More than 1,500 meteorites comprise UCLA’s collection. Built over the past 80 years, it is the largest collection on the west coast and the second largest housed at a university. Around 100 of these ‘space rocks’ are on display at the UCLA Meteorite Gallery, which is free and open to the public. The collection is also an incredible resource for students and researchers in the department. Currently a member on the UCLA meteorite committee, I am committed to better preserve and utilize the collection for research and education.
EMPA laboratory (https://e-probe.epss.ucla.edu/)
Currently housing a JEOL JXA-8200 Superprobe, the UCLA EMPA lab has a long history since 1963/1964. It has seen four generations of electron microprobe facilities and served a wide range of researchers in Southern California since then.
UCLA Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer Laboratory
(https://uclasims.epss.ucla.edu/)
The UCLA/NSF SIMS lab (PI Harrison) is a national facility that houses a Cameca ims-1270 and an ims-1290, which are ideal for non-destructive micro-beam analyses of extraterrestrial samples for U-Pb dating, stable isotope analyses (e.g. O and S), and trace element compositions.
PANORAMA Mass Spectrometer (Edward Young Laboratory)
The PANORAMA lab (PI Young) houses a unique large-geometry gas-source mass spectrometer, designed for measuring rare multiply-substituted isotopologues of methane (CH4), N2, and O2 that is made possible by the high mass resolving power of the instrument. Combined with an in-house fluorination line, the PANORAMA lab is capable of measuring triple oxygen isotopes of extraterrestrial materials to 8 ppm precision. Measurements of the abundance of different isotopologues of methane (e.g. 13CH3D, 12CH2D2) allows for diagnosis of various methane formation and destruction pathways, providing a potential mechanism for detecting biogenic methane on extraterrestrial bodies.
