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Centre national de la recherche scientifique – University of Montpellier

CNRS

The National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) will participate in the EXCITE project via the INSU national platform: EBSD-GM – High resolution crystallographic mapping by electron backscattered diffraction, which hosts the CrystalProbe-Montpellier – the CNRS infrastructure participating in the EXCITE proposal. The INSU EBSD-GM platform is hosted by Géosciences Montpellier.

Facilities

The CrystalProbe-Montpellier infrastructure is a field emission gun (FEG) SEM equipped with an ultra-fast and ultra-sensitive EBSD camera – the Symmetry from Oxford Instruments – and an EDS detector allowing simultaneous crystallographic and chemical mapping of thin sections or polished sections.

The CNRS-INSU platform that hosts the CrystalProbe-Montpellier infrastructure has high-quality electron microscopy and sample preparation facilities. 

Expertise

01
The CNRS-INSU facilities allow for high-resolution simultaneous crystallographic and chemical mapping by EBSD and EDS of a broad range of materials, from rocks to ice or metallic specimens. They are routinely used in earth sciences to study: (1) deformation and recrystallization processes, (2) the interactions between deformation and metamorphic reactions or fluid/melt transport, and (3) to estimate the anisotropy of physical properties of rocks, in particular seismic anisotropy.
02
The specificities of the CrystalProbe also allows for non-routine studies, which are performed on a project basis. Among such projects performed in the last 5 years, we highlight: (1) cryogenic experiments to characterize recrystallization processes on ice, (2) in situ high-temperature deformation experiments on metallic alloys, (3) characterization of bio-materials (hydrogels for bone reconstruction), (4) characterization of the relations between finite strain and microstructural evolution in rocks deformed with strain markers, and (5) the identification of grain-boundary defects, such as disclinations.

Science team


Fabrice Barou
Andréa Tommasi
Benoit Ildefonse

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Curious to learn more?

Twenty-four European facilities for electron and X-ray microscopy are joining hands. To better understand Earth and planetary materials and to together unveil the secret codes hidden under our feet. Curious? Like to learn more? Interested in gaining access to our EXCITE Imaging facilities? Please enter your email address and be one of the first geoscientists to be informed when we open calls for proposals. Other questions? Contact us here.

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