Research Facilities
UBC has a full range of equipment for studying problems in mineralogy, crystallography, and geochemistry. Below are short descriptions of some of the equipment and facilities available for mineralogical research at UBC.
The Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences has two powder X-ray diffractometers, a Bruker D8 Focus with a Lynxeye detector and a Siemens D5000 with a VANTEC-1 detector.
My students and I are also major users of the X-ray equipment in the Department of Chemistry. This includes a Bruker X8 single-crystal diffractometer with an APEX II detector and an Mo source, a Bruker APEX DUO single-crystal diffractometer with Mo and Cu sources, a Bruker D8 ADVANCE powder X-ray diffractometer, and a Bruker D8 DISCOVER powder X-ray diffractometer with a GAADS (General Area Detector Diffraction System) detector. There is also a temperature and controlled atmosphere attachment for the powder X-ray diffractometers.
The Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences has a Philips XL30 scanning electron microscope with a Bruker Quantax 200 energy-dispersion X-ray analysis system and an XFlash 4010 detector. It also has a Cameca SX-50 electron microprobe with four vertical wavelength-dispersion X-ray spectrometers and a fully integrated Kevex energy-dispersion X-ray spectrometer with SAMx software.
My students and I are occasional users of PCIGR, the Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research, NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) facilities in the Department of Chemistry, research facilities at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, and the neutron diffraction facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.