Mars Age eXperiment (MAX)

Details Mars Age eXperiment (MAX) Mars Age eXperiment (MAX)

Dec 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agufm.p53a..07a&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #P53A-07

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1094 Instruments And Techniques, 1194 Instruments And Techniques, 3694 Instruments And Techniques, 5494 Instruments And Techniques, 6094 Instruments And Techniques

Scientific paper

We are developing a miniature laser ablation resonance ionization system coupled with a time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometer for in-situ isotopic measurements on Mars and other solid bodies, with a focus on Rb-Sr systematics for geochronology applications. Here we report on initial results from a lab version of the instrument. With the lab instrument we seek to demonstrate sufficient precision to support a Rb-Sr geochronology measurement (87Sr/86Sr to ±0.002). Key technical goals of the lab system are to (1) optimize laser ablation to maximize gas production while minimizing fractionation and power, (2) determine the minimum resonance ionization energy required to produce high precision, (3) design and build a high resolution mass spectrometer for ion measurement, (4) design, build, and optimize the detection system. The effort to build a lab scale device is providing us with insight into the requirements for a miniature system. For example, the initial measurements were made with much lower ablation and resonance ionization (RI) laser power levels than expected (<2-5mJ), and demonstrated the potential for using only two lasers (not three as anticipated). Sample preparation was done in less than 5 minutes from cutting of the sample with a Dremel tool to vacuum and measurement. First light laser ablation and resonance ionization spectra have moderate precision for 87Sr/86Sr of ±0.08, however, several issues remain: (1) laser power levels remain high, hence we need attenuators for both the ablation and RI lasers to establish the true minimum power levels required, (2) we currently do not remove ablation ions, which dominate and saturate our detector, reducing our RI resolving power; these ions can be removed with simple modifications now underway, and (3) our high precision data collection system is functioning incorrectly and is under repair; all initial data were collected with an inherently lower precision oscilloscope. We anticipate that addressing these three issues will increase the measured precision to the required value. The current data suggest that the required number of shots will remain low, resulting in manageable power levels for an in-situ instrument. We have begun the miniaturization process, and expect to replace the ablation laser with a miniature, flashlight-sized version in ~2 months, and have a miniature TOF in ~12 months.

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