Stable Isotope Laboratory
Facility
The stable isotope laboratory includes a 10 µm (CO2) infrared laser for sample heating and fluorination. The video here shows fluorinate of grains of olivine:
The infrared laser fluorination system provides for a precision of 0.005‰ in Δ17O. Our laboratory also houses the Panorama, the world’s largest gas-source isotope ratio mass spectrometer that can be used for rare isotopic species on a variety of gases.
Applications
We use the stable isotope laboratory for fluorination of silicates, oxides, and sulfates for oxygen isotopic analysis. We also use this facility for analysis of atmospheric gases (e.g., N2 isotope clumping and and O2 isotope clumping). Our work on the oxygen isotopic composition of the Moon ( Young et al., 2016, Science) represents state-of-the-art precision for Δ17O. We continue to explore the applications of this level of precision.
