The UW-Madison Electron Microprobe Lab was established by Prof. Eugene Cameron in 1966 with the purchase of a 3-spectrometer ARL-EMX electron microprobe. Dr. Everett Glover was hired the same year to oversee its operation. This instrument was located in the basement of Science Hall at 917 University Ave and ran until Dec 1980.
At this time the EPMA technique was relatively new, with the electron microprobe technique first developed by Raimond Castaing’s 1951 PhD thesis and commercialization of the first microprobe by Cameca in 1958. In the first decade of the technique, there were fewer than 20 instruments in existence or under construction around the world (Duncumb, 2001).
The ARL-EMX at UW-Madison produced early data on lunar materials returned from the Apollo 11 mission, including round robin characterization of a new Fe-Mg-Ti oxide mineral Armalcolite (Anderson et al. 1970).
The ARL-EMX instrument was replaced by a 9-spectrometer ARL-SEMQ. Six of the spectrometers were fixed, and the remaining three were tunable. This was the first EPMA instrument installed in Weeks Hall, and the first EPMA with computer data processor.
In August of 1993, a state-of-the-art Cameca SX50/51 (SN #485) Microprobe was delivered, with installation of this new generation microprobe continuing into 1994. The SX51 had the same column and electronics as the SX50, however a key difference was the sub-micron stage, which would become the SX100 (and SX5) stage. Jean-Michel Peneau was the engineer in charge.
In November 1993, Dr. Eugene Cameron “cut the ribbon” on the new SX51 at a ceremony attended by the UW-Geology and Geophysics Alumni Committee.
In Nov 2014, a Cameca SX-Five Field Emission Electron Microprobe (SN #944) was delivered. The FE source provides improved targeting ability and stability at low voltage. The SXFiveFE operates with both Cameca PeakSight software and Probe for EPMA/Probe Image software. It is equipped with a Thermo Scientific UltraDry EDS detector running Pathfinder.
In Mar 2023, the facility received a surplus Cameca SX-100 microprobe donated by Department of Energy (DOE) Los Alamos National Laboratories (LANL). In Sep 2023, the facility received two surplus Cameca SX-100 microprobes donated by Macquarie University. Components of the three instruments were combined into a fully functioning 5-spectrometer instrument that came online for research in May 2024.
The lab operates as a multi-user recharge facility, with usage divided between geologists, material scientists, engineers, chemists, physicists, anthropologists, and others.
The lab was managed from 1966 to 1992 by Dr. Everett Glover (1917-2017), from 1992 to 2020 by Dr. John Fournelle, and since 2020 by Dr. Will Nachlas.
