• The Argus VI is specially designed to quantify Ar-isotopes from small samples for argon-argon dating applications and halogen element determination. The low volume system is used with a laser system to liberate gas from samples as small as 1 mg in mass. 

• Enables precise isotopic determinations of natural noble gas components (He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe) in extraterrestrial and terrestrial materials.

• The VG 5400 comes equipped with one faraday cup analyser and an electron multiplier allowing it to produce high sensitivity measurements of all noble gas (He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe) isotopes. Our VG has been regularly upgraded in terms of hardware and software and is still the workhorse of the G69 noble gas lab. The VG has been designed for high precision measurements of noble gases in both terrestrial and extra-terrestrial samples.

• Two class 100 wet chemistry labs equipped with class 10 fume hoods/laminar flow hoods. Ultra-pure acids are sub-distilled for use in digestion and column procedures.
• A class 1000 preparation lab equipped with microscopes, and a glove box for handling dust in a clean environment.
• A sample preparation laboratory for imaging samples and preparing them for analyses.

A triple quadrupole ICP-MS instrument, coupled to an excimer laser (LA-ICP-MS), for trace element and isotope analyses in solid samples. Routine analyses include trace element analyses in mineral and glass phases, and U-Pb dating in U-bearing minerals (zircon, monazite, apatite). Typical spot sizes are in the range 10-80 micrometres, depending on the target element abundances and the precision required.