Berlin 2014 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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PV: Plenarvorträge

PV IV

PV IV: Plenarvortrag

Dienstag, 18. März 2014, 09:15–10:00, Audimax

Isotopic Microprobe Mass Spectrometry — •Michael J. Pellin — Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, IL, USA

Technological advances in analytical methods enable discovery. Lippershey and Janssen's conversion of their telescopes to optical microscopes enabled Hooke and van Leeuwenhoek to investigate biological structures and to discover micro-organisms. Similar statements can be made about the electron and scanning probe microscopes. Microprobe mass spectrometry instrumentation has undergone a similar transformation with the advent of new, bright, stable ion sources that allow probing ever smaller voxels of matter. We will review these advances focusing on a unique application - the study or presolar grains. These mesoscale refractory grains are thought to have condensed around dying stars and were trapped in primitive meteorites during our solar systems formation. The objects are challenging to investigate since each tells a unique story of its original star and analysis is atom limited, requires high lateral resolution, and needs isotopic precision. These smallest objects are our only samples of other stars and the research again connects astronomy and microscopy.