ABSTRACT

LJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA department of Planetary Sciences, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ 85721, USA 3 Institute of Microtechnology, University of Neuchatel, Rue Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2007, Neuchatel, Switzerland 4 Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2BT

ABSTRACT: We have developed, built and tested a microscopy station for planetary science applications, in particular for the study of Martian dust and soil. The system consists of a sample delivery system, an optical microscope and an atomic force micrscope (AFM). The combination of microscopies allows the study of features from the millimeter to nanometer scale. LED illumination allows for full colour and UV optical imaging of the samples. The AFM uses an array of silicon and molded diamond tips and can operate in both, static and dynamic mode.