Head: Bernadett Bajnóczi

Optical and cathodoluminescence microscopic analyses are conducted using a Nikon Eclipse E600 POL optical microscope and a Nikon Eclipse E600 cathodoluminescence microscope with a Nikon Coolpix 4500 digital camera and a spectrometer.

The microscope lab facility contains a Bruker Vertex 70 Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometer and Hyperion 2000 microscope, that can be used for material identification in powder samples, or on thin sections at the 10 micrometer scale.

Head: Péter Németh , PhD

The scanning electron microscope laboratory in the Institute for Geological and Geochemical Research was established thanks to a successful ELRN infrastructure grant. The financial support made it possible to replace the more than 40 years old JEOL JCXA-733 electron microprobe with a modern, field-emission gun-equipped JEOL JSM-IT700HR microscope. The new instrument has significantly expanded the material investigation possibilities of the mineralogical, geochemical, geological, and archaeometric researches carried out at the institute. The field emission source allows the device to achieve a spatial resolution of up to 1 nanometer, i.e., the morphology and texture of the sample can be investigated with great detail. The low accelerating voltage (1 keV) setting ensures the in-depth examination of surface structures and nanoparticles. Thanks to the low-vacuum and low-acceleration voltage modes, insulating materials can also be studied without more serious sample preparation (without carbon coating). The latter - preserving the original condition - is especially important for archaeological materials and cultural heritage objects...

Head: Attila Demény , research professor

The laboratory was established in 1990. Until 2005 the stable isotope laboratory was equipped with a Finnigan MAT delta S isotope ratio mass spectrometer that has a collector system for ¹³C/¹²C, ¹⁸O/¹⁶O, ¹⁵N/¹⁴N and ³⁴S/³²S ratio determinations in CO₂, N₂ and SO₂ gases, and a collector system for D/H ratio determination in H₂ gas. Now the lab also contains to other mass spectrometers. In 2005 a Finnigan delta plus XP mass spectrometer equipped with a GASBENCH II unit was installed. Although water samples can be analysed using CO₂-H₂O equilibration, the mass spec is currently used only for carbonate samples. In 2014 a Thermo Finnigan delta V mass spec was purchased and a TC/EA and and elemental analyzer were attached in order to measure H-C-N-O isotopes in organic matter and hydrous minerals. H-O isotope compositions of water samples are measured using two laser spectroscopes (Los Gatos Instruments), one of them dedicated to fluid inclusion research...

Head: Péter Sipos , Senior Research Fellow

The major profile of the laboratory is the analysis of geological materials for their chemical and phase composition; however, significant experiences are possessed on the analysis of (industrial) ceramics, metals, glasses, and materials of the cultural heritage. Its special areas of analysis are the clay mineral identification and structure analyses, the archeometric analysis, as well as the integrated phase and chemical micro-analysis. The laboratory consists of three parts: an X-Ray analytical, a micro-analytical and an inorganic chemical unit. An X-Ray micro-diffractometer, two X-Ray diffractometers, a laboratory and a handheld X-Ray fluorescent spectrometer, an atomic absorption spectrophotometer and an automatic titrator are operated in the laboratory. Basic and special sample preparation tools are also available there. The XRF laboratory is equipeed with a Philips PW 1410 type wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer controlled by Philips X31 version 2.13 software is used at the Institute for Geochemical Research...

Head: Zsófia Ruszkiczay-Rüdiger, Senior Research Fellow

The setup of a sample preparation laboratory for in situ produced cosmogenic nuclides in our Institute begun in 2013. From 2014 to 2016 the laboratory has been prepared for processing quartz-containing sediment and rock samples for the determination of their in situ produced cosmogenic ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al concentrations. Main research topics: exposure age and denudation rate determination of fluvial terraces using ¹⁰Be depth profiles, burial age determination using the ²⁶Al/¹⁰Be nuclide-pair and ¹⁰Be exposure age determination of glacial landforms...