EPL Instrumentation

The Earth & Planets Laboratory maintains multiple 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. The mass spectrometry laboratory is currently undergoing renovation to expand the space for new instrumentation coming in 2026, including a new Isotopx Phoenix Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer.

Key Instrumentation:

• Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (TIMS) - Thermo Scientific Triton XT
   
  • Contact: Lori Willhite
     
• Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)
   
  • Contact: Lori Willhite
     
  • Instruments:
    • Nu Plasma II Multicollector ICP-MS
    • Thermo Scientific iCAP Q ICP-MS
    • Teledyne Iridia Excimer Laser
       
• Secondary Ionization Mass Spectrometry - Cameca NanoSIMS 50
   
  • Contact: Jianhua Wang

Spectroscopy at wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the infrared allows our scientists to interrogate the chemical structure of a sample without destroying it. Applications range from discovering unseen mineral configurations to developing new materials and probing Martian minerals from afar.

Key Instrumentation:

• JASCO NRS-3100 Confocal Micro Raman Spectrometer (Contact: Bjorn Mysen)
• JASCO IMV 4000 Microinfrared Spectrometer (Contact: Bjorn Mysen)
• Linkam Heating and Cooling Stage (Contact: Bjorn Mysen)
• Perkin-Elmer Lambda950 UV/Vis Spectrophotometer (Contact: Timothy Strobel)
• High-Resolution Raman Spectrometer for Diamond Anvil Cell (Contact: Timothy Strobel)
• High P-T Raman System with Double-side Laser Heating (Contact: Alexander Goncharov)
• Broad Band Visible-NIR Transient Optical Spectroscopy System (Contact: Alexander Goncharov)
• Witec Alpha SNOM (RAMAN, AFM, SNOM. Contact: Andrew Steele)
• Witec Alpha300 (Contact: Andrew Steele)
• Multi-Laser Raman Spectroscopy for Diamond Anvil Cell (Contact: Mike Walter / Amol Karandikar)

The X-ray diffraction lab is centered on the synthesis and characterization of novel materials for energy and advanced applications.

Key Instrumentation:

• Bruker D8 Discover
  Microanalysis with interchangeable collimators (2mm–0.1mm), micro-positioning, multiple geometries (reflection, grazing incidence, small-angle scattering, transmission), detectors for speed/resolution.
   
• Bruker D2 Phaser
  Powder X-ray diffractometer, easy-to-use, high quality reflection geometry data with real-time monitoring.

Physical Properties Measurement System (PPMS)

Contact: Tim Strobel

This laboratory includes cryogenic environments, custom-made cryostat systems, and Quantum Design PPMS, adapted for measuring transport properties of samples loaded in Miniature Diamond Anvil Cells.  Capable of measurements from 2 K to room temperature in magnetic fields up to 9 Tesla at pressures up to 120 GPa.
 

Experimental Geophysics

Contact: Anne Pommier

In this laboratory, the electrical (impedance) and acoustic (under development) properties of geomaterials are probed in situ under pressure and temperature conditions.

Key Instrumentation:

• Solartron 1260A Impedance Spectrometers (Ametek)
• Hamamatsu Microfocus X-ray source

Capable of generating pressures up to 27 GPa and temperatures up to 2500 °C. Applications include geological processes (diffusion, deformation, melting relations) and novel material synthesis.

Key Instrumentation:

• Multi-anvil Blue Press (Contact: Yingwei Fei)
   
• Multi-anvil Green Press (Contact: Yingwei Fei)
   
• Multi-anvil Orange Press (Contact: Yingwei Fei)
   
• Multi-anvil Grey Press (Contact: Yingwei Fei)
   
• Rockland 1100-ton Multi-anvil Press (Contact: Anne Pommier)
   

We use these portable, high-pressure devices for studying the equation of state, phase transitions, melting, transport, and rheological properties of planetary materials and to discover novel high-pressure materials.

They enable the routine compression of micrometer-sized samples up to ~300 GPa. Coupled with lasers, we can heat the pressurized samples and measure temperatures up to 6000 K, and in some cases, do simultaneous spectrometric measurements. 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. 

Key Instrumentation:

• Symmetric Cells for Double-Sided Laser Heating (40+ available)
   
  • These cells are capable of generating pressure to 300 GPa routinely. Experiments are conducted at synchrotron facilities at APS, ALS, DESY, and ESRF.
  • 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.
    • Contact: Yingwei Fei
       
  • A double-sided laser-heated DAC employs a 1064 nm (NIR) Fiber Laser to heat metallic samples and measure temperatures from the heated spot using spectroradiometry.
    • Contact: Mike Walter / Amol Karandikar
       
  • A single sided laser heated DAC employs a 10.6 µm (IR) CO2 laser to heat nonmetallic samples and measure temperatures from the heated spot using spectroradiometry.
    • Contact: Mike Walter / Amol Karandikar
       
• Hydrothermal Diamond Anvil Cells
   
  • These cells are designed for monitoring the evolution of fluids and melts under in-situ conditions. Experiments can be performed at pressures up to 3 GPa and temperatures of 1273 K.
  • Contact: Bjorn Mysen, Dionysis Foustoukos
     
• Internally Heated DACs
   
  • These use metallic samples and generate stable pressures up to 100 GPa and temperatures up to 2000 K.
  • Contact: Yingwei Fei

Location: Du Pont Telescope and Local Volume Mapper Instrument, Las Campanas Observatory, and Sloan Foundation 2.5m Telescope at Apache Point Observatory, New Mexico

• Carnegie is a full member of SDSS V, which is providing multi-epoch optical & IR spectroscopy across the entire sky, as well as contiguous integral-field spectroscopic coverage of the Milky Way and Local Volume galaxies. In both the north and south, The survey employs 2.5 m telescopes equipped with the BOSS spectrographs for low-resolution (R~2000) optical and APOGEE spectrographs for medium-resolution (R~22,500) near-IR spectroscopy as well as the Local Volume Mapper Instrument of four 0.16 m telescopes coupled with a fiber-fed integral field spectrograph. The survey is operating from 2020-2027. Carnegie scientists have proprietary data rights with access to the SDSS-V Science Archive and a wide collaborative network.

The lab is designed to study: i) water/rock interactions at  pressures up to 300 MPa and temperatures of 600 °C to constrain crustal fluid evolution and to investigate the hydrothermal alteration of meteoritic bulk samples and organic residues; and ii)the microbial ecology and physiology of 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:

• Hydrothermal Chemistry Lab
  • A high-pressure/temperature stirred continuous culture bioreactor capable of withstanding temperatures ranging from 25 to 120°C and pressures as high as 69 MPa.
  • Six cold seal pressure vessels
  • Two flexible Au/Ti reaction cells (50 ml, T < 400 °C, P < 50 MPa)
  • Zirconium pressure vessel (300 ml, T<150 °C).
  • High-temperature furnace
• Aqueous Geochemistry Instrumentation
  • SRI Gas Chromatograph (TCD/FID/FPD detectors)
  • Shimadzu 8A Gas Chromatograph equipped with TCD detector
  • Spectro-XEPOS fluorescence EDS spectrometer
  • Tecan M200 Pro Multimode Reader (spectrophotometer)
  • Dionex ICS-5000 ion chromatograph for anion, cation, organic acids, amine, carbohydrate and amino acid analysis
  • Metrohm “MIC-3 Advanced” Ion Chromatograph for anion and cation analysis
  • Mettler-Toledo T50 automatic titrator

Sample pre for large-volume presses and 1 atm furnaces

Key Instrumentation:

• Secotom 20 cut-off machine
• Well diamond wire saw
• Lampert PUK argon spot welder
• Petrographic microscope
• Foredom grinding setup
• Lindberg box ovens (1100 K and 1700 K)
• Vacuum oven

Sample preparation for the large volume presses includes the ability to machine multi-anvil parts and assemble high-pressure cells.

Key Features:

• Stereo microscopes and lab tools
• Drying ovens
• PUK welder
• Lathe
• Diamond grinder
• MDX540 CNC milling machine

Resources:

• Compute Nodes: 10 with dual AMD Epyc processors (64 cores/node) each (older Intel nodes from the previous Skye cluster are available for interactive work)
• GPUs: none
• Interconnect: 10 Gbits

Storage: Extensive RAID disk storage with backup

vger is a cluster dedicated to astronomy research at EPL, with a variety of astronomy and planetary science software installed to facilitate studies of planetary atmospheres, interiors, and evolution, and telescope data reduction and interpretation. 

• Compute Nodes: 1
• Cores: 128 CPU
• GPUs: none
• Memory: 2TB of memory