Facilities

The LEAPS lab has a variety of sample preparation and analytical equipment including:

• Hitachi TP 4000Plus Scanning Electron Microscope with Oxford EDX Detector: A tabletop scanning electron microscope with EDX detector for use in the characterization of planetary samples for research and teaching.
• Leica UC7 Ultramicrotome: An ultramicrotome useful for the preparation of electron transparent thin sections for analysis in the transmission electron microscope.
• Nikon SMZ 800 Stereomicroscope: A stereomicroscope with attached camera and software to manipulate and image samples.
• VWR Gravity Convection Oven: An oven for curing of epoxy with temperature control up to 250 ºC.
• Buehler Isomet Low-Speed Saw: A low speed saw and diamond blades for the sectioning of meteorite samples and rock chips with minimal sample loss.
• Narishige Glass Needle Puller: Tool for preparing glass needles used in the handling, transfer, and manipulation of small particles.

LEAPS also leverages electron microscopy facilities at Purdue University in the Life Science Microscopy Facility, the School of Materials Engineering, and the Birck Nanotechnology Center including but not limited to:

• FEI Nova NanoSEM Field Emission scanning electron microscope
• Hitachi S-4800 Field Emission scanning electron microscope
• FEI Quanta 3D FEG Dual Beam focused ion beam-scanning electron microscope
• Thermo Scientific Helios G4 UX Dual Beam focused ion beam-scanning electron microscope
• FEI Tecnai T20 transmission electron microscope
• FEI Talos 200X transmission electron microscope
• Thermo Scientific Themis Z double aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscope