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Abstract:
A CAMECA 1280-HR SIMS (secondary ion mass spectrometer) was installed at the Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam / Helmholtz Zentrum Potsdam in November 2013. The new ion microprobe laboratory functions as an open user facility, in accordance with the Helmholtz Society's support of the scientific community through providing access to top-end infrastructure. The 1280-HR instrument will be integrated into the Helmholtz SIMS network, whereby the activities in the Potsdam laboratory will be closely coordinated with new SIMS infrastructure currently being installed in both Dresden (accelerator SIMS using a CAMECA 7f as its ion source) and Leipzig (NanoSIMS 50L). The Potsdam 1280-HR is intended mainly for geoscientific studies, however, the facility will also support a limited number of well defined material science investigations as well as serving as a platform for instrumentation development work. The state-of-the-art, ultra-high sensitivity and large geometry instrument consists of the basic 1280-HR design, including the five trolley multi-collection system along with a Resistive Anode Encoder, thus making the system optimized for both low-uncertainty isotope ratio determinations (e.g., δ 13 C, δ 18 O and δ 34 S) as well as quantification and distribution mapping of low concentration elements in minerals, glasses or biological materials. The possibility of very high mass resolution of M/dM ≥ 30,000 will also allow the separation of isobaric masses, such as 40 Ca and 40 K. Envisioned key research topics include H, B, C, O, S and Pb isotopic studies, geochronology applications and the quantificaiton of volitile elements in geological materials. Although our SIMS team is still gaining initial experience with this new technology, we have already completed out several isotope, solubility and diffusion studies. This contribution provides a brief overview on the current state of the Potsdam SIMS facility, its analytical progress and present operational capabilities. We invite the community to take advantage of this geochemical tool.
