Planetary Science Instrumentation
Analytical Facilities
The Earth and Planets Laboratory maintains six modern mass spectrometers for analyzing trace elements and isotope ratios at high sensitivity, high precision, and/or high spatial resolution, as well as supporting chemistry and sample preparation labs.
Key Instrumentation:
Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (TIMS)
Room: C-G18 | Contact: Timothy Mock
- Thermo Scientific Triton XT
- Thermo Finnigan Triton
Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry
Room: C-G22 | Contact: Timothy Mock
- Nu Plasma II Multicollector ICP-MS
- Nu Plasma HR Multicollector ICP-MS
- Thermo Scientific iCAP Q ICP-MS
- Teledyne Iridia Excimer Laser
Secondary Ionization Mass Spectrometry
Room: C-G15 | Contact: Jianhua Wang
- Cameca NanoSIMS 50L
Spectroscopy at wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the infrared allows scientists on campus to interrogate the chemical structure of a sample without destroying it.
From discovering previously unseen mineral configurations in the lab to developing new materials that could transform technology, and even probing Martian minerals from afar, EPL scientists across a broad range of specialties rely on a range of spectroscopic techniques to discover new things about our world and what it's made of.
Key Instrumentation:
- JASCO NRS-3100 Confocal Micro Raman Spectrometer
Room: R-209 | Contact: Bjorn Mysen -
JASCO IMV 4000 Microinfared Spectrometer
Room: R-209 | Contact: Bjorn Mysen -
Linkam Heating and Cooling Stage
Room: R-209 | Contact: Bjorn Mysen -
Perkin-Elmer Lambda950 UV/Vis Spectrophotometer
Room: R-108a | Contact: Timothy Strobel -
High-Resolution Raman Spectrometer for Diamond Anvil Cell
Room: R-108a | Contact: Timothy Strobel -
High P-T Raman System with Double-side Laser Heating for Diamond Anvil Cells
Room: R-140 | Contact: Alexander Goncharov -
FTIR Optical Spectroscopy System
Room: R-140 | Contact: Alexander Goncharov -
Broad Band VNIR Transient Optical Spectroscopy System
Room: R-140 | Contact: Alexander Goncharov -
Time Domain Thermoreflectance Measurements in the DAC
Room: R-140 | Contact: Alexander Goncharov -
Witec Alpha300 RAS (RAMAN, AFM, SNOM)
Room: R-238 | Contact: Andrew Steele
X-Ray diffraction lab is centered around the synthesis and characterization of novel materials for energy and advanced applications. Also, in this lab are the high-resolution Raman spectrometer and UV-Vis Absorption Spectrometer,
Room: R-108 | Contact: Timothy Strobel
Key Instrumentation:
- Bruker D8 Discover
This multi-function X-ray diffractometer allows microanalysis with interchangeable collimators from 2mm-0.1mm.
X,Y,Z translation are coupled with tilt and rotation for micro-positioning. Reflection, in-plane grazing incidence diffraction, small angle X-ray scattering, and transmission measurement geometries are accommodated. Users can choose the 140 mm diameter area detector or the high-resolution slit detector for the desired speed/ resolution.
- Bruker D2 Phaser
This powder X-ray diffractometer is quick and easy to use for obtaining high quality data in reflection geometry. An integrated flat screen allows real-time data monitoring.
This laboratory uses transport measurements and Raman experiments with green (532 nm) and red (660 nm, 633nm) lasers. Transport measurements are performed in a cryogenic environment in custom-made cryostat systems or using the standard Physical Properties Measurements System (PPMS) from Quantum Design.
Miniature custom-made Diamond Anvil Cells are used in a PPMS system to perform transport measurements from 2 Kelvin to room temperature in a magnetic field up to 9 Tesla at high-pressure conditions. High-pressure measurements up to 120 GPa have been performed with this setup.
Room: R-129 | Contact: Alexander Goncharov
Located on the ground floor of the Abelson building, the electron beam suite provides state-of-the-art electron beam instruments to prepare, image, and analyze the micro-nanoscale properties of experimentally produced or natural samples. Lab managers provide instruction in the operation of microbeam instrumentation to lab users and also conduct microbeam research on a variety of geologic topics.
Key Instrumentation:
- JEOL JXA-8530F Field Emission Electron Microprobe Analyzer (EMPA)
Room: A-G22A | Contact: Emma Bullock
- FEI Helios Plasma Focussed Ion Beam (FIB) G4
Room: A-G22B | Contact: Suzy Vitale
- Zeiss Auriga Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
Room: A-G26 | Contact: Emma Bullock or Suzy Vitale
- EOL 6500F Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) Sample Preparation Room
Room A-G25 | Contact: Emma Bullock or Suzy Vitale
The W. M. Keck Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer Laboratory is a multi-nuclear facility dedicated to the analysis of bio-geo-cosmo-mat sci-chemistry samples.
Room: R-222 | Contact: George Cody
Key Instrumentation:
- Chemagnetics CMX Infinity 300 NMR
- Super Conducting Magnet: Our NMR employs a 7.05 Tesla (300 MHz 1H) Oxford-wide bore magnet with Resonance Research Shim controller.
- Radiofrequency: The GL CMX infinity is a three-channel spectrometer equipped with one high-power narrow-band amplifier.
- Probes: We currently have five solid-state MAS probes to serve a broad range of scientific inquiries.
- Nuclei studied:
1H, 2H, 11B, 13C, 15N, 17O, 19F, 23Na, 27Al, 29Si, 31P
- This facility was supported by the W. M. Keck Foundation, the National Science Foundation (MRI), and Carnegie Institution.
- Super Conducting Magnet: Our NMR employs a 7.05 Tesla (300 MHz 1H) Oxford-wide bore magnet with Resonance Research Shim controller.
Learn more
Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) is a method of thermal analysis in which the mass of a sample is measured over time as the temperature changes.
A thermogravimetric analyzer continuously measures mass while the temperature of a sample is changed over time.
The stable isotope lab is equipped to provide high precision-high accuracy stable isotopic analysis of a broad range of materials, including gasses, solutions, and solids, and both inorganics and organics.
1.)Thermo Scientific Delta V Plus mass spectrometer interfaced with a CE Instruments NA 2500 series elemental analyzer (EA), and a Elementar vario Pyro cube to facilitate high-temperature pyrolysis (1500 °C).
2.)Thermo Quest Finnigan DeltaPlus XL mass spectrometer coupled to a Thermo Finnigan thermal conversion elemental analyzer (TC/EA), and to a Trace GC Ultra through a GS Isolink-II.
Contact: Dionysis Foustoukos, Location: Research Building R-228
Experimental Facilities
The piston-cylinder is generally used for generating simultaneously high-pressure up to ~3 GPa and high-temperature up to ~1700 °C. The advantages of piston-cylinder experiments are the relatively large sample size (several millimeters), fast heating and quenching rates, and the stability of the equipment over long-run durations.
The major applications of these tools are the synthesis of novel materials, partial melting and phase equilibrium studies, and elemental partitioning and isotopic fractionation studies. Below you can find the various piston-cylinder presses available on the EPL campus operated by our staff scientists.
Key Instrumentation:
- Rockland Piston Cylinder
Room: R-G16 | Contact: Anat Shahar
- Depths of the Earth Press
Room: R-G16 | Contact: Anat Shahar
- Boyd-England Piston Cylinder
Room: R-G25 | Contact: Yingwei Fei
- Rockland 250-ton Press Piston-cylinder Apparatus
Room: R-G31 | Contact: Anne Pommier
- Solartron 1260A Impedance Spectrometer
Room: R-G31 | Contact: Anne Pommier
- Two Solid Media High-Pressure Apparatus (Piston cylinder)
Room: R-203 | Contact: Bjorn Mysen
The 250-ton Paris-Edinburgh Press (type VX) is equipped with a Teledyne Isco syringe pump (30 ml capacity, 30,000 PSI) and Keysight power supply unit (9 V-220 A) and is used for recovering cubic millimeters of samples from high-pressure and high-temperature (HP-HT) synthesis experiments.
The ‘conoidal’ anvils, pyrophyllite gaskets and cylindrical graphite heaters are currently used for the experiments. The typical pressure and temperatures routinely used are 6-7GPa and 1600K. This set-up also can perform resistivity measurements under pressure using Keithley digital multimeter.
Key Instrumentation
- Paris-Edinburgh Press
Room: R-109 | Contact: Tim Strobel
The Earth and Planets Laboratory maintains two labs for the preparation of high-pressure samples.
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Diamond Anvil Cell Prep Lab
This laboratory is used for general diamond anvil cell sample preparation, including cleaning and mounting of diamonds, gasket preparation, and sample loading.
Room: R-143 | Contact: Michael Walter
- Large Volume Press Prep Lab
This laboratory is used for sample preparation for the large volume presses and includes the ability to machine multi-anvil parts (R-G21) and assemble high-pressure cells (R-G22).
Room: R-G22 & R-G23 | Contact: Yingwei Fei
The multi-anvil presses at Carnegie can generate high pressure and high temperature of up to 27 GPa and 2500 °C using tungsten carbide cube anvils.
The major advantages of the multi-anvil press are the ability to compress relatively large samples (millimeters), precise high pressure and temperature generation, and excellent stability even at relatively high pressures.
This allows mineral physicists and petrologists to study geological processes (e.g., diffusion, deformation, subsolidus and melting phase relations, partitioning) under extreme conditions throughout Earth’s lithosphere, upper mantle, and top part of the lower mantle. Material scientists also use multi-anvil pressure to synthesize novel high-pressure materials and study the effect of pressure on material structures and their chemical and physical properties.
Key Instrumentation:
- Multi-anvil Blue Press
Room: R-G25 | Contact: Yingwei Fei
- Multi-anvil Green Press
Room: R-G25 | Contact: Yingwei Fei
- Multi-anvil Orange Press
Room: R-G25 | Contact: Yingwei Fei
- Multi-anvil Grey Press
Room: R-G25 | Contact: Yingwei Fei
- Rockland 1100 Multi-anvil Press
Room: R-G31| Contact: Anne Pommier
The diamond-anvil-cell is a portable, high-pressure device used in high-pressure geosciences, material sciences, and engineering. It enables the routine compression of micrometer-sized samples up to ~300 GPa. Coupled with lasers, we can simultaneously heat the sample up to 6000 K and do a range of spectrometric measurements while the sample experiences extreme pressures. The major application of diamond anvil cells is to study the equation of state, phase transitions, melting, transport, and rheological properties of planetary materials and to discover novel high-pressure materials.
Many diamond anvil cell experiments are carried out at synchrotron facilities (e.g., the Advanced Photon Source at the Argonne National Laboratory), because of the need for a high flux of X-ray photons for such small sample sizes. The pressure and temperature generated by the diamond anvil cell technique can cover the entire P-T range in the deep interior of our planet and and deep into exoplanetary (“super-Earth”) interiors.
Key Instrumentation:
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Symmetric Cells for Double-Sided Laser Heating
Over 40 symmetric cells are capable of generating pressure to 300 GPa routinely. Experiments are conducted at synchrotron facilities at APS, ALS, DESY, and ESRF.
Room R-G25 | Contact: Jing Yang
- Externally Heated DACs
A uniform, stable temperature is achieved by using a small wire heater around the diamond or a large heater around the cylinder. Ceramic seats are also used for efficient heat. Simultaneous pressure and temperature up to 120 GPa and 1100 K can be routinely achieved.
Room R-G25 | Contact: Yingwei Fe
- Internally Heated DACs
Metallic samples such as iron are used as a heater and sample in the internally heated DAC, generating stable temperatures up to 100 GPa and 2000 K.
Room R-G25 | Contact: Yingwei Fei
The hydrothermal lab is designed to study the biology of the deep-sea microorganisms that thrive at high pressures and temperatures to better understand how life arose on our planet and how these organisms impact our planet’s chemistry.
Key Instrumentation:
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Hydrothermal Chemistry Lab
Room: R-237 | Contact: Dionysis Foustoukos-
High-pressure flow through apparatus
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Benchtop stirred continuous culture bioreactor capable of withstanding temperatures ranging from 25 to 120°C and pressures as high as 69 MPa.
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Zirconium pressure vessel (300 ml, T<150 °C).
- Six cold seal pressure vessels
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Two flexible Au/Ti reaction cells (50 ml, T < 400 °C, P < 50 MPa)
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Head space gas chromatographs
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High-temperature furnace
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Internally Heated Pressure Vessel
Room: R-Penthouse | Contact: Dionysis Foustoukos - Tecan M200 Pro Multimode Reader
Room: R-241 | Contact: Dionysis Foustoukos
- Aqueous Geochemistry Instrumentation
Room: R-241 | Contact: Dionysis Foustoukos-
SRI Gas Chromatograph (TCD/FID/FPD detectors)
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Shimadzu 8A Gas Chromatograph equipped with TCD detector
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Metrohm “MIC-3 Advanced” Ion Chromatograph capable for both anion and cation analysis
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Mettler-Toledo T50 automatic titrator
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Geophysical Facilities
The Nelson McWhorter Seismometer Lab, named for former Department of Terrestrial Magnetism instrument maker Nelson McWhorter, houses all the tools our geophysicists need to explore the interior of our planet—primarily through seismology and geodesy. The lab is on the ground floor of the Greenewalt Building.
Room: Ground floor of the Greenewalt Building
Contact: Diana Roman and Lara Wagner
Key Instrumentation:
- 25 Streckheisen STS-2 sensors
- 12 Nanometrics Trillium Compact sensors
- 26 RefTek RT130-01 24-bit digitizer/datalogger systems
- 12 Nanometrics Centaur digitizer/dataloggers
(6 6-channel/6 3-channel) - 2 Scintrex CG-6 Autograv Gravimeters
- 50 Quick Deploy Boxes
Astronomical Facilities
All astronomers at the Earth and Planets Laboratory have access to Carnegie's Las Campanas Observatory in Chile.
Las Campanas is one of the premier sites in the world for astronomy because of its excellent seeing and clear skies. The observatory deploys a broad range of visible and near-infrared imagers and spectrographs as well as a high-contrast adaptive optics deformable secondary and a wide-field secondary.
More details on the Observatory and instrumentation can be found at http://www.lco.cl/ and Information for Astronomers.
Carnegie has an internal time allocation process that occurs once per year for the small telescopes and twice yearly for Magellan. The call for proposals may be found at http://proposals.obs.carnegiescience.edu/.
Telescopes
- Magellan Telescopes (6.5-meter)
- Irene du Pont Telescope (2.5-meter)
- Swope Telescope (1-meter)
- Coming Soon: Giant Magellan Telescope (24.5m)
Learn more
The Carnegie Planet Finder Spectrograph (PFS) is hard at work searching for extrasolar planets with the 6.5-meter Magellan II Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. It detects exoplanets through their gravitational influence on their host stars, which cause Doppler shifts in the stellar spectra that can be measured to give the stellar velocities to a precision better than 1 meter per second. As the planets orbit their hosts, the measured stellar velocities vary periodically, revealing the planetary presence and information about their masses and orbits.
PFS is a PI instrument and is only available via collaborative arrangement with the instrument team. If you are interested in using PFS, contact Steve Shectman before submitting a proposal. Questions about the instrument may be directed to Jeff Crane. Questions about PFS exoplanet science may be directed to Paul Butler.
PI team: Paul Butler, Jeff Crane, Steve Shectman, Ian Thompson
Instrumentation Specifications
- Wavelength range: Fixed format covering 391 to 734nm
- Scale and Dispersion: 0.054 arcsec/pixel, ~0.009 Angstroms/pixel
- Velocity precision: 1 meter/sec
- Detector: STA1600 CCD, 10K x 10K, 9 micron pixels. Non-linearity data
- Slit viewer field of view: 38x38 arcsec
- Calibration sources: Thorium Argon lamp, Quartz lamp, Iodine absorption cell
- Practical faint magnitude limit: Somewhere between V=15 and V=16, limited by star visibility in slit viewer
- Efficiency: Peak instrumental efficiency is around 23%
Learn more
Overview
The Giant Magellan Telescope Near Infrared Spectrograph (GMTNIRS) is a high-resolution near-infrared spectrograph selected as a first-generation instrument for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT).
Before the GMT is ready, Alycia Weinberger and her team will commission the instrument for the Magellan telescope. This will allow it to be deployed to GMT as a calibrated instrument with an experienced user community. This incredibly capable near-infrared spectrograph will have the largest simultaneous wavelength grasp, be the most efficient, and therefore have the best sensitivity of any such instrument. Ever.
Project Details
- MagNIFIES will take the collecting power of the 6.5 m Magellan telescope and disperse and collect all the light at wavelengths from 1.07 to 5.3 μm simultaneously in six sub-spectrographs aligned on a common platform.
- With spectral resolutions over 40,000, MagNIFIES will have the largest spectral grasp of any high dispersion instrument in the world.
- MagNIFIES will be made possible by a collaboration between Carnegie, Giant Magellan Telescope Organization, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Korean Astronomy and Space Science Institute with major users across the Magellan Consortium.
Carnegie's Alan Boss, Alycia Weinberger, and Thompson Gatewood developed a specialized astrometric camera, the Carnegie Astrometric Planet Search (CAPS) camera, with support from the NSF. The heart of the CAPS camera is a Teledyne Hawaii-2RG HyViSI array, with the camera's design being optimized for high accuracy astrometry of red dwarf stars.
The 2048 x 2048 HAWAII-2RG array is the state-of-the-art multiplexer for advanced astronomy and space telescope applications. The ''Guide Mode'' provides a programmable window that may be read out continuously at up to 5MHz pixel rate for stable tracking of guide stars.
Instrumentation Specifications
- Detector: Teledyne Hawaii-2RG HyViSi Array
- Pixels: 2048 x 2048 x 18 microns (2040 x 2040 imaging pixels)
- Plate Scale and Field of View:194 arcsec/pixel, 6.63 x 6.63 arcmin
- Detector Gain: 2.1 electrons/ADU
- Detector Read Noise: 12.5 electrons
- Detector Linear Full Well: 130,000 electrons
- Dewar Window: Astrometric quality filter (Barr Associates lambda/30), bandpass 8100 – 9100 A
Learn more
Carnegie is a member of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Consortium (SDSS) and is hosting the APOGEE-2 spectrograph at the du Pont telescope.
APOGEE-2 observes the "archaeological" record of the Milky Way Galaxy embedded in hundreds of thousands of stars to explore its assembly history and evolution.
The details of how the Galaxy evolved are preserved today in the motions and chemical compositions of its stars. APOGEE-2 maps the dynamical and chemical patterns of Milky Way stars with data from the 1-meter NMSU Telescope and the 2.5-meter Sloan Foundation Telescope at the Apache Point Observatory in the United States (APOGEE-2N), and the 2.5-meter du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile (APOGEE-2S).
Survey Details
- Survey Duration: August 2014 - January 2021
- Fiber Complement: 300 fibers per 7 deg2 plate (APO 2.5-m, R=1.5∘) or 2.8 deg2 plate (LCO 2.5-m; R=0.95∘); 10 fiber (APO 1-m)
- Wavelength Range: 1.51−1.70μm
- Spectral Resolution: R22,500
- Total Sample Size: 657,000 unique targets
- Signal-to-Noise Goal: S/N 100 per pixel
- Radial Velocity Precision: 200 m/s
- Elemental Abundance Precision: 0.1 dex for 20 calibrated species
Learn more
Geobiological/Astrobiological Facilities
The molecular biology laboratory is designed for astro-, micro-, and molecular biology as well as sample preparation. It contains all the facilities for a Class 2 bio-safety rating.
The labs also include confocal Raman imaging spectroscopy—complete with atomic force microscopy for sub-micron imaging and chemical detection. Steele’s pioneering use of Raman spectroscopy has led to many innovations in remote mineral analysis—including the design of the spectrometer sent to Mars on the Perseverance rover.
Room: R-236 | Contact: Andrew Steele
Key Instrumentation
Carnegie scientists explore the fundamental concepts of thermodynamics, kinetics, and phase equilibrium across a range of research interests—from deep-crustal processes to geo-microbiological interactions.
The hydrothermal lab is designed to study the biology of the deep-sea microorganisms that thrive at high pressures and temperatures to understand how life arose on our planet and how these organisms impact our planet’s chemistry.
Room: R-237, R-241| Contact: Dionysis Foustoukos
Key Instrumentation
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Hydrothermal Chemistry Lab
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High-pressure flow through apparatus
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Benchtop stirred continuous culture bioreactor capable of withstanding temperatures ranging from 25 to 120°C and pressures as high as 69 MPa.
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Zirconium pressure vessel (300 ml, T<150 °C).
- Six cold seal pressure vessels
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Two flexible Au/Ti reaction cells (50 ml, T < 400 °C, P < 50 MPa)
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Head space gas chromatographs
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High-temperature furnace
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Room: R-237 | Contact: Dionysis Foustoukos
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Internally Heated Pressure Vessel
Room: R-Penthouse | Contact: Dionysis Foustoukos - Tecan M200 Pro Multimode Reader
Room: R-241 | Contact: Dionysis Foustoukos
- Aqueous Geochemistry Instrumentation
Room: R-241 | Contact: Dionysis Foustoukos-
SRI Gas Chromatograph (TCD/FID/FPD detectors)
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Shimadzu 8A Gas Chromatograph equipped with TCD detector
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Metrohm “MIC-3 Advanced” Ion Chromatograph capable for both anion and cation analysis
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Mettler-Toledo T50 automatic titrator
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Sample Preparation Facilities
The Earth and Planets Laboratory geochemistry facilities include over 4,000 square feet of clean laboratory space separated into 14 rooms.
Room: C-202 & C-102 | Contact: Michelle Jordan
Key Features:
- 4000 square feet of clean laboratory space
- 14 rooms for individual chemistry procedures
- Large collection of isotopic spikes and standards
This laboratory is used for general diamond anvil cell sample preparation, including cleaning and mounting of diamonds, gasket preparation, and sample loading. The lab contains common solvents, epoxies, ovens for drying samples, and high-precision tools for sample preparation and loading.
The lab also includes a ruby-Raman system for pressure measurement, a profilomter for measuring surface roughness, a laser cutter, and sample fabrication system, and a micromanipulator.
Key Features
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Ruby-Raman system for pressure measurement and gasket pre-indentation
Room: R-143 | Contact: Michael Walter -
EDM and laser milling for gasket drilling
Room: R-143 | Contact: Michael Walter -
Micro-manipulator for delicate sample loading
Room: R-143 | Contact: Michael Walter -
Zygo Profilometer for surface measurement
Room: R-143 | Contact: Michael Walter -
Five stereo microscope stations with optical fiber lighting for sample loading
Room: R-143 | Contact: Michael Walter -
Common solvents, epoxies, ovens for heating samples, and common sharp tools for sample preparation
Room: R-143 | Contact: Michael Walter - Laser Diamond Cutting and Polishing
Room: R-G15 | Contact: Joseph Lai
Sample preparation for the large volume presses includes the ability to machine multi-anvil parts (R-G21) and assemble high-pressure cells (R-G22)
Room: R-G22 & R-G23 | Contact: Yingwei Fei
Key Features
- Stereo Microscopes and Precision Lab Tools
- Laboratory Drying Ovens
- PUK Welder
- Lathe
- Diamond Grinder
- MDX540 CNC Milling Machine
The high-pressure researchers at the Earth and Planets Laboratory rely on diamond anvil cells (DAC) to explore how materials respond to extreme pressures. Using our facilities, we use Carbon Vapor Deposition to create high-purity, low-fluorescence single crystal diamonds in the lab for use in diamond anvil cells.
Our research on natural diamonds requires that we expose tiny inclusions for study. We have a laser system for cutting diamonds into slabs and polishing wheels for carefully exposing the precious inclusions.
Key Instrumentation:
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CVD Chamber
Room: R-132 | Contact: Joseph Lai -
Custom turbo pumped vacuum system
Room: R-G03 | Contact: Joseph Lai -
Laser Diamond Cutters
Room: R-G15 | Contact: Joseph Lai -
Diamond Polishers
Room: R-G15 | Contact: Joseph Lai
The gas loading facility is designed to load gases such as H2, He, Ne, Ar, CH4, and N2 at high densities into the diamond anvil cell.
Room: R-137 | Contact: Alexander Goncharov
Key Features
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Gas Loader
This high-pressure diamond anvil cell gas loading apparatus utilizes a two-stage compressor that can compress gases from 1000 psi to 25000 psi.
- Rock Cutting Lab
Room: R-G15 | Contact: Joseph Lai
- Laser Diamond Cutting and Polishing
Room: R-G15 | Contact: Joseph Lai
- Sample Polishing
Room: R-G06 | Contact: Yingwei Fei
- General Chemistry Lab
Room: R-G06 | Contact: Jill Yang
Computational Facilities
As investors in the Caltech HPC cluster, the Carnegie Institution for Science has access to 19 percent of the total cluster quarterly. The Caltech Supercomputing Lab offers 12,936 CPU cores, 200 GPUs, and over 100 TB of memory across 337 compute nodes.
Contact Garret Huntress to gain access to the cluster.
Learn moreThis computing resource is managed by Peter van Keken and Peter Driscoll.
- 22 compute nodes
- 422 CPU cores
- 2 AMD nodes, each with 64 cores
This computing resource is managed by Alan Boss.
- 14 compute nodes
- 112 CPU cores
Memex is the name of Vannevar Bush's hypothetical proto-hypertext system described in his 1945 The Atlantic Monthly article, "As We May Think." It is also the name of our first centralized supercomputer. With contributions across our institution, Memex is a shared computing cluster available to all of our researchers and their collaborators.
As of early 2019, Memex is comprised of 126 compute nodes, which are available to all researchers.
Learn moreComing soon
Instrumentation and Facilities Support
Thanks to the Earth and Planets Laboratory's machine shop, our researchers have access to custom parts and bespoke instrumentation right here on campus.
From computer trouble to web updates, get in touch with your IT team through the Help Desk.