Laboratory Technician Support: Experimental Mineral Physics and Petrology Facilities at the University of Hawaii at Manoa

University Of Hawaii, Honolulu

Investigators

Abstract

Geoscientists have long recognized the importance of generating extreme conditions of pressures and temperatures to reproduce in laboratory settings the conditions present in planetary interiors. Such high-pressure experiments on the properties, transformations, and behavior of principal planetary materials provide the basis for understanding the nature and mechanisms of dynamic processes taking place within deep interiors of Earth and other planetary bodies. The many laboratories of the Mineral Physics and Experimental Petrology Laboratory (MPEPL or MPL) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) are equipped for measurements of physical, chemical, spectroscopic, microstructural and nano-structural properties of minerals, advanced ceramics, and ceramic composites, single-crystalline and poly-crystalline minerals, silicate glasses and melts, as well as syntheses of minerals and materials under extreme conditions. This award will fund a laboratory technician in the MPL, who will play a critical role in maintaining and supporting the unique state-of-the-art experimental facilities and educational infrastructure, training students and visiting researchers, and providing technical support to the principal investigators and users of the facilities. The lab technician will provide critical technical support for the research and educational agendas of the MPL. (1) The Multi-Anvil Press Laboratory (MAPLab) led by the lead investigator has been commissioned to become a research and teaching/training ex-situ large volume press facility for high-pressure sample syntheses and experimental petrology research. The MAPLab facilities offer a valuable platform for training junior researchers in a laboratory setting and enrich the curricula for high-pressure geosciences education. (2) The X-ray Atlas Lab led by one of the co-investigators that is engaged in cutting-edge crystallographic research focused on characterization of discontinuous structural transformations that silicates undergo as a function of depth, and has been leading the field in the development of innovative solutions in hardware, measurement methodology and data analysis software for high-pressure research. The X-ray Atlas lab provides state-of-the-art X-ray analytical capabilities for in situ and ex-situ characterization of geologic samples at both extreme and ambient conditions for broad research community on campus and off campus. The X-ray Atlas lab also features spectroscopic and laser-heating instrumentation for high-pressure and high-temperature research. (3) The Laser Spectroscopy Lab led by another co-investigator has been commissioned for measuring vibrational properties by Raman spectroscopy, Brillouin Scattering, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, as well as high-temperature sample syntheses and measurements by laser heating. The lab technician will be actively involved in the research activities of all three investigators, and help to commission, maintain, and support the experimental facilities. The experimental facilities at the MPL provide opportunities for the student researchers to build their scientific resume in geoscience using the state-of-the-art multi-scale laboratories and facilities. The lab technician's active involvement in the day-to-day training of junior researchers at the UHM will have a great impact on the overall quality of graduate and undergraduate education. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.