The facilities currently include a state of the art VG354. This instrument is fully automated and is fitted with 9-ion collectors for high precision measurements and a Daly collector for high sensitivity. Clean air laboratories are available for contamination free preparation of ultra small samples. The isotopes are separated by a magnetic field and measured as small electric currents. Both the isotopic composition and concentration can be measured with high accuracy.
Most samples require chemical processing before they can be analysed.
For more information you can access the Western Australian Isotope Science homepage. There is a new Phillips scanning electron microscope for use as well as the older one. The Phillips XL30 scanning electron microscope produces magnified images with far greater resolution than an optical microscope. These images can then become permanent records as photographs, taken using Polaroid or roll film, as video prints or saved to a file in TIFF format. Specimens as large as 55 mm in diameter can be viewed in detail, at sub-micron level if necessary.