TU Bergakademie Freiberg, a public university of technology in Germany, has opened a new cleanroom laboratory at its Institute of Mineralogy.
This metal-free cleanroom laboratory is the first of its kind in Germany.
The furnishings and equipment are made entirely of non-metallic material, with the necessary metal parts encased in synthetic substances.
The highly sensitive analyses for studying rocks would be falsified if the samples were exposed to metal in the room.
The researchers can determine the geological age of rocks very precisely in the metal-free cleanroom using what is known as uranium-lead dating.
This metal-free cleanroom laboratory is the first of its kind in Germany
Professor Marion Tichomirova is the head of the university's existing isotope laboratory in the field of applied physics and was instrumental in initiating and implementing the construction of the new metal-free cleanroom in the Clemens Winkler Building.
Professor Tichomirova, said: “The Freiberg isotope laboratory at the Institute of Mineralogy is the only laboratory in Germany to carry out high-precision dating of rocks. Compared to other dating methods, we can determine the age of rocks ten times more accurately with this method. This makes uranium-lead dating the most precise "geological clock" currently available to researchers.”
Metal-free cleanroom ensures less lead and more precise analyses
The new cleanroom laboratory in the Clemens-Winkler Building is one of the few metal-free laboratories in the world.
As all metals contain lead, the dating method can be falsified by lead contamination even in a non-metal-free cleanroom laboratory.
The quantities of lead produced by radioactive decay in the analysed mineral zircon are extremely small, they are around 50 picograms or 0.00000000005 grams.
The highly sensitive analyses for studying rocks would be falsified if the samples were exposed to metal in the room
The amount of lead that is added in the laboratory during the analytical steps should therefore be at least 50 to 100 times smaller.
Only in a metal-free cleanroom is it possible to achieve such low "blank values" for lead.
In the new laboratory, the researchers can now also analyse smaller and younger zircons and determine the age of these rocks even more precisely than before.
In the field of geosciences, TU Bergakademie Freiberg now has a unique cleanroom that enables cutting-edge research.
There are only around 10 to 15 other metal-free cleanroom laboratories in the world.
The Free State of Saxony is covering the costs of around €2m (Euros) for setting up the laboratory.
Image: The image above shows a view of the new metal-free cleanroom laboratory Image credit: TU Bergakademie Freiberg