The Electron Microprobe Lab houses a JEOL JXA-8500F electron microprobe that is equipped with a field-emission cathode, five wavelength-dispersive X-Ray spectrometers, and an energy-dispersive spectrometer. Electron microprobe analysis (EMPA) is mainly used to quantitatively investigate the chemical composition of rocks and mineral phases in the micrometer to centimeter range.
Typically, polished sections of rocks or minerals are used for this purpose, but highly vacuum-resistant fossil …