Introduction to Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry in the Earth Sciences
1 to 5 September 2025
These SIMS short courses are run under the auspices of both the International Association of Geoanalysts and the Deutsche Mineralogische Gesellschaft.
People wishing to register their interest in this course should send an e-mail to Michael.Wiedenbeck@gfz-potsdam.de putting “SIMS Short course” in the subject heading.
This short course is intended for PhD students and young researchers who have little or no experience in the field of SIMS technology. However, participants will be expected to be familiar with the basics of analytical geochemistry; a general familiarity with EPMA analyses is a prerequisite.
Practical exercises involving the calculation of quantitative results from real measurement data will require a basic knowledge of the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program.
This course will provide initial contact with SIMS technology and is intended for all students and post-docs and other researchers who wish to use the Potsdam Cameca 1280-HR user facility. Other analytical geochemists with a general interest in SIMS technology are also welcome to sign-up for the course. Participants will be exposed to all basic aspects of SIMS: fundamentals of vacuum technology, theory of secondary ion generation and matrix effects, data assessment and realistic assessment of this technique’s strengths and limitations. A limited amount of hands-on contact with the Cameca 1280-HR facility as well as other peripheral instrumentation will be part of the laboratory part of this course.
NOTE: Participants are required to bring their own laptop with them and should be able to process .xls, .pdf and .jpg files. Laptops must be capable of WLAN access, for which an individual user password will be issued.