Isotope imaging is commonly used to investigate the localization of trace elements and their isotopes. In situ noble gas analysis of meteorites revealed the distribution of primordial noble gases that were trapped in the building blocks of asteroids and planets during the early stage of the solar system evolution. Solar wind noble gases are among the primordial gases present in meteorites and were trapped through exposure to solar wind. Micrometer-resolution in situ noble gas analysis has not been achieved due to the lack of sensitivity and spatial resolution. The microscale imaging technique is crucial for identifying the carrier phase of the solar wind noble gases. We have developed ⁴He isotope imaging utilizing secondary neutral mass spectrometry with strong field postionization. This technique achieved a lateral resolution of 2 μm and a ⁴He detection limit of 2 × 10¹⁷ cm^–3. This development allows for the study of a solar wind gas-rich meteorite, Northwest Africa 801 carbonaceous chondrite, with micrometer resolution. The solar wind ⁴He carriers are fine-grained particles and are sparsely scattered in the matrix region.

中文翻译：

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陨石原位氦同位素显微成像

同位素成像通常用于研究微量元素及其同位素的定位。对陨石的原位稀有气体分析揭示了太阳系演化早期阶段被困在小行星和行星组成部分中的原始稀有气体的分布。太阳风惰性气体是陨石中存在的原始气体之一，通过暴露于太阳风而被捕获。由于缺乏灵敏度和空间分辨率，微米分辨率的原位惰性气体分析尚未实现。微尺度成像技术对于识别太阳风惰性气体的载相至关重要。我们开发了利用具有强场定位的二次中性质谱法的⁴ He 同位素成像。该技术实现了 2 μm 的横向分辨率和2 × 10 ¹⁷ cm ^–3的4 He 检测限。这一进展使得能够以微米分辨率研究富含太阳风气体的陨石——西北非洲 801 碳质球粒陨石。太阳风⁴ He 载流子是细粒粒子，稀疏地分散在基体区域中。