Centre national de la recherche scientifique – University of Montpellier

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.

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.