Instead, he showed that their experiments were contaminated with gold from the sample capsule. This finding should put an end to the Japanese patent. During the heating and pressurization, orange-red particles formed. The research project took on a commuter-train nature as additional scientists got on board at subsequent experimental stops. Postdoctoral researcher Laurence Garvie, an electron microscopist working with Peter Buseck, ASU's Regents Professor of chemistry and biochemistry, was the first to join in.
Scientists use the technique to analyze low weight atoms such as boron and oxygen.
Garvie's EELS work was essential because it provided detailed chemical analyses of the materials synthesized by Hubert. A crystal, which contains atoms packed in a regular repeating pattern, cannot have five-fold symmetry. Icosahedral particles in nature are rare. Some viruses pack in this way, but they are much smaller in size. Laurence Garvie used a scanning electron microscope to obtain images of boron suboxide.