Laser Microprobe
Laser Microprobe
The laser microprobe lab uses a unique purpose built two-step laser mass
spectrometer (L2MS) to investigate the nature and composition of organic
matter in extraterrestrial materials. The L2MS technique combines non-thermal
laser desorbtion with resonant laser photoionation and reflectron time-of-flight
mass spectrometry to create an instrument capable of investing the organic
composition in samples than can weigh less than a thousand millionth of a gram.
This has enabled studies into the formation of life's building blocks in the
early solar system and preserved for billions of years in meteorites and comets,
and provided the first identification of potential complex organic species in
Martian meteorites.
Laboratory Leads
|
Lindsay Keller
NASA 281-483-6090 |
Simon Clemett
Jacobs JETS II 281-483-5121 |
Electron Beam Laboratory Suite
The Electron Beam Laboratory Suite includes two scanning electron microscopes (SEM),
two transmission electron microscopes (TEM), two electron microprobes, one dual-beam
focused ion beam (FIB) instrument, one NanoSIMS 50L, and a one-of-a-kind laser microprobe.
These workhorse instruments are used to characterize all types of materials studied
within ARES, and virtually every research group makes frequent use of one or more
of these instruments while conducting research in support of the ARES mission.
Electron Beam Laboratories
Electron Beam Laboratories
Inside the Laser Microprobe Laboratory: NASA scientist Simon Clemett conducting
an experiment with the Laser Ablation, Laser Ionization Mass Spectrometer (L2MS).
This research tool is used to investigate the composition of organic matter in micron-scale
extraterrestrial materials.