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 …

In this laboratory complex of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, researchers investigate the chemical composition and structure of rocks, meteorites, minerals and fossils. The objects come from collections, expeditions and experiments. The material-related research is based on various imaging and chemical-physical methods.
The laboratory complex is located on one floor of the museum’s main building for technical and organizational reasons. It features several, complementary large appliances. …

In the Isotope Laboratory, stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen are investigated by determining the ratio of individual isotopes (atoms of one element whose nuclei contain different numbers of neutrons) in the sample material. The isotopic composition of the sample allows conclusions about, for instance, the prevailing temperature and precipitation regime when the material was formed. In addition to paleoclimatology, stable isotopes are also utilized in geological, …

The Micro X-Ray Fluorescence (µXRF) Lab houses two spectrometers used for element dirstribution maps and quantitative analysis of the main and trace elements. The Bruker Tornado M4 plus can analyse samples up to 16x20 cm and runs under vacuum to allow detection of low mass elements. The lowest spot size is 20 µm. The Bruker Jetstream M6 can analyse large samples with a maximum mapping size of 60x80 cm. It usually runs under atmosphere (no detection of low mass elements). The spot size is …

In the Micro-CT laboratory, biological, paleontological, and geological objects are analyzed using computer-assisted methods. The laboratory is a hub both for research at the museum and for the digitisation of the scientific collections. In addition to various devices for three-dimensional scanning (a Phoenix Nanotom S X-Ray tomograph, an Artec Spider and an Artec EVA hand-held scanner), the laboratory has 12 powerful workstations for processing and analyzing the raw data using special 3D …

Mineralogical preparation covers the spectrum of coarse and fine sawing work, polished sections and thin sections polished on one or both sides. Surface and thin sections can be produced in Giessen format or as one-inch cylindrical sections. The laboratory is equipped with various rock saws, an inner diameter saw, two GNM grinding machines, two Logitech polishing machines, and a polishing machine for vibration polishing.

The Raman Spectroscopy Lab is equipped with a Horiba LabRAM-HR laser Raman spectrometer that is used to identify and structurally characterize mineral phases, glasses, and organic substances. It is suitable for almost all areas of object-oriented research. Raman spectroscopy provides non-destructive information on the molecular or crystalline structure of samples down to the micrometer range. The Raman spectrometer is equipped with three lasers of different wavelength (an air-cooled …

The Scanning Electron Microscopy Lab houses a JEOL JSM-6610LV scanning electron microscope (SEM). The SEM is equipped with a LaB₆ cathode and is coupled to a Bruker Quantax 800 energy-dispersive X-Ray spectrometer, a cathodoluminescence detector, and an electron-backscatter diffraction detector. The SEM is typically used for structural and chemical analysis of rocks, minerals, and fossils. The large sample chamber holds objects up to ten centimeters in size. The SEM can be operated in a …

The Scanning Electron Microscopy Lab additionally houses a Lumic HC3-LM "hot-cathode" cathodoluminescence (CL) microscope that is coupled to an optical microscope fitted with a color CCD camera. Color CL signals can be obtained from thin-sectioned rock and mineral samples, and CL signals, recorded with the CCD camera, allow, e.g., identification and spatial mapping of zoning patterns in minerals such as zircon and calcite.

The X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Lab houses a Bruker S8 Tiger X-Ray fluorescence sequence spectrometer that is used for quantitative analysis of the main and trace elements of bulk rock and mineral samples. Element contents as low as the parts per million (mg/g) range can be obtained by XRF from bulk samples that were previously either finely ground and pressed into a tablet or molten and subsequently cast into a glassy disk. The analyser can be used on-site as well as for sample-based research …