VIBE lab

Facilities

WITEc alpha300R Raman microscope + calibration cell

• We have an alpha300R confocal Raman spectrometer from WITEC, with 5, 20, 50 and 100X objectives. It can go to 50mW. We also have a custom built stage for a peltier plate, allowing easy heating of samples above the critical point of CO2

• The wonderful Charlotte DeVitre (pictured) built a gas calibration cell, adapting on her design in DeVitre et al. 2021. This allows us to precisely determine the relationship between diad splitting and CO2 density bewteen 0 and ~1.05 g/cm3. In this cell, pressure and temperature are tightly constrained using a pressure tranducer and high precision thermistor. 

Sample Preparation Laboratory 

• We have a sample preparation lab designed for preparing melt and fluid inclusions. We have fully adjustable desks for accesability, with a number of different scopes, and polishing materials. 

SEM lab

In March, 2024, a new JEOL JSM IT800HL Scanning Electron Microscope was installed. It uses an In lens Schottky plus field emission electron gun, which can achieve a resolution of 0.7 nm @ 1kV, 0.5 nm @ 15 kV. This instrument has amazing beam control and power - At 30kV, we can use beam currents of a few pA to 500nA (100nA at 5 kV), and can read the exact beam current using an in-column probe current detector (PCD). This SEM also has a a low vacuum mode for samples which cannot be coated or are susceptible to charging. We also have a new ACE600 Leica carbon coater which provides the ability to coat to a selected thickness. 

We have an Oxford UltimMax 100 and Symmetry S3 EBSD detector, along with a Wave WDS and a CL detector. 

https://eps.berkeley.edu/lab-services/wavelength-dispersive-spectrometry

https://eps.berkeley.edu/lab-services/imaging-capabilities 

https://eps.berkeley.edu/lab-services/quantitative-eds-analysis