Focused Ion Beam Recovery of Hypervelocity Impact Residue in Experimental Craters on Metallic Foils.
The Stardust sample return capsule will return to Earth in January 2006 with primitive debris collected from Comet 81P/Wild-2 during the fly-by encounter in 2004. In addition to the cometary particles embedded in low-density silica aerogel, there will be microcraters preserved in the Al foils (1100 series; 100 {micro}m thick) that are wrapped around the sample tray assembly. Soda lime spheres ({approx}49 {micro}m in diameter) have been accelerated with a Light Gas Gun into flight-grade Al foils at 6.35 km s{sup -1} to simulate the capture of cometary debris. The experimental craters have been analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) to locate and characterize remnants of the projectile material remaining within the craters. In addition, ion beam induced secondary electron imaging has proven particularly useful in identifying areas within the craters that contain residue material. Finally, high-precision focused ion beam (FIB) milling has been used to isolate and then extract an individual melt residue droplet from the interior wall of an impact. This enabled further detailed elemental characterization, free from the background contamination of the Al foil substrate. The ability to recover ''pure'' melt residues using FIB will significantly extend the interpretations of the residue chemistry preserved in the Al foils returned by Stardust.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 887281
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JRNL-216922; TRN: US200618%%45
- Journal Information:
- Meteoritics and Planetary Science, Vol. 41, Issue 2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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