CHEMIN: Chemistry / Mineralogy Analyzer
Our small, portable CHEMIN instrument is a combined
CHEMical and MINeralogic analyzer, the first instrument
to perform both analyses simultaneously. CHEMIN records
x-ray diffraction and x-ray fluorescence data from fine-grained
or powder samples (less than a milligram) held in the path of an x-ray beam.
Prototype testing has prepared CHEMIN for
• characterizing tiny samples of materials that are costly, rare, or difficult to fabricate,
• determining the nature of contaminants in soil or groundwater,
• sampling the feedstock in industrial processes,
• testing geologic samples of precious minerals or dilute hazardous material, and
• assaying powdered rock at mining sites.
With continued development, CHEMIN will play an important role in space exploration. After further miniaturization, it will be included in future space probes to determine the elemental composition and minerology of planets and other extraterrestrial bodies. This is the ultimate purpose for which Los Alamos, the NASA Ames Research Center, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have developed this instrument.
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