Homogeneity assessment of the SuperCam calibration targets onboard rover perseverance

J M Madariaga; J Aramendia; G Arana; K Castro; L Gómez-Nubla; S Fdez-Ortiz de Vallejuelo; C Garcia-Florentino; M Maguregui; J A Manrique; G Lopez-Reyes; J Moros; A Cousin; S Maurice; A M Ollila; R C Wiens; F Rull; J Laserna; V Garcia-Baonza; M B Madsen; O Forni; J Lasue; S M Clegg; S Robinson; P Bernardi; A J Brown; P Caïs; J Martinez-Frias; P Beck; S Bernard; M H Bernt; O Beyssac; E Cloutis; C Drouet; G Dromart; B Dubois; C Fabre; O Gasnault; I Gontijo; J R Johnson; J Medina; P-Y Meslin; G Montagnac; V Sautter; S K Sharma; M Veneranda; P A Willis

doi:10.1016/j.aca.2022.339837

Homogeneity assessment of the SuperCam calibration targets onboard rover perseverance

Anal Chim Acta. 2022 May 29:1209:339837. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2022.339837. Epub 2022 Apr 26.

Authors

J M Madariaga¹, J Aramendia², G Arana², K Castro², L Gómez-Nubla², S Fdez-Ortiz de Vallejuelo², C Garcia-Florentino², M Maguregui², J A Manrique³, G Lopez-Reyes³, J Moros⁴, A Cousin⁵, S Maurice⁵, A M Ollila⁶, R C Wiens⁷, F Rull³, J Laserna⁴, V Garcia-Baonza⁸, M B Madsen⁹, O Forni⁵, J Lasue⁵, S M Clegg⁶, S Robinson⁶, P Bernardi¹⁰, A J Brown¹¹, P Caïs¹², J Martinez-Frias¹³, P Beck¹⁴, S Bernard¹⁵, M H Bernt⁵, O Beyssac¹⁵, E Cloutis¹⁶, C Drouet¹⁷, G Dromart¹⁸, B Dubois⁵, C Fabre¹⁹, O Gasnault⁵, I Gontijo²⁰, J R Johnson²¹, J Medina³, P-Y Meslin⁵, G Montagnac¹⁸, V Sautter¹⁵, S K Sharma²², M Veneranda³, P A Willis²⁰

Affiliations

¹ Dept. of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 48940, Leioa, Spain. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Dept. of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 48940, Leioa, Spain.
³ Unidad Asociada UVA-CSIC-CAB, University of Valladolid (UVA), Valladolid, Spain.
⁴ Dept. of Analytical Chemistry, University of Malaga (UMA), Malaga, Spain.
⁵ Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie (IRAP), CNRS, UMR, 5277, Toulouse, France.
⁶ Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM, USA.
⁷ Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM, USA; Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
⁸ University Complutense of Madrid (UCM), Madrid, Spain; Institute of Geosciences IGEO (CSIC-UCM), Madrid, Spain.
⁹ Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹⁰ Laboratoire d'Etudes Spatiales et d'Instrumentation en Astrophysique, Meudon, France.
¹¹ NASA HQ, Severna Park, MD, USA.
¹² Laboratoire d'astrophysique de Bordeaux, Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, France.
¹³ Institute of Geosciences IGEO (CSIC-UCM), Madrid, Spain.
¹⁴ Institute de Planetologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenobel, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France.
¹⁵ IMPMC, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France.
¹⁶ Dept. of Geography, University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MN, R3B 2E9, Canada.
¹⁷ Centre Interuniversitaire de Recherche et d'Ingénierie des Matériaux (CIRIMAT), CNRS, Toulouse, France.
¹⁸ Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon, Lyon, France.
¹⁹ GeoRessources Vandoeuvre les Nancy, Nancy, France.
²⁰ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, USA.
²¹ Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD, 20723-6005, USA.
²² University of Hawaii, Manoa, HI, USA.

PMID: 35569848
DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2022.339837

Abstract

The SuperCam instrument, onboard the Perseverance rover (Mars 2020 mission) is designed to perform remote analysis on the Martian surface employing several spectroscopic techniques such as Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), Time-Resolved Raman (TRR), Time-Resolved Fluorescence (TRF) and Visible and Infrared (VISIR) reflectance. In addition, SuperCam also acquires high-resolution images using a color remote micro-imager (RMI) as well as sounds with its microphone. SuperCam has three main subsystems, the Mast Unit (MU) where the laser for chemical analysis and collection optics are housed, the Body Unit (BU) where the different spectrometers are located inside the rover, and the SuperCam Calibration Target (SCCT) located on the rover's deck to facilitate calibration tests at similar ambient conditions as the analyzed samples. To perform adequate calibrations on Mars, the 22 mineral samples included in the complex SCCT assembly must have a very homogeneous distribution of major and minor elements. The analysis and verification of such homogeneity for the 5-6 replicates of the samples included in the SCCT has been the aim of this work. To verify the physic-chemical homogeneity of the calibration targets, micro Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) imaging was first used on the whole surface of the targets, then the relative abundances of the detected elements were computed on 20 randomly distributed areas of 100 × 100 μm. For those targets showing a positive Raman response, micro-Raman spectroscopy imaging was performed on the whole surface of the targets at a resolution of 100 × 100 μm. The %RSD values (percent of relative standard deviation of mean values) for the major elements measured with EDXRF were compared with similar values obtained by two independent LIBS set-ups at spot sizes of 300 μm in diameter. The statistical analysis showed which elements were homogeneously distributed in the 22 mineral targets of the SCCT, providing their uncertainty values for further calibration. Moreover, nine of the 22 targets showed a good Raman response and their mineral distributions were also studied. Those targets can be also used for calibration purposes of the Raman part of SuperCam using the wavenumbers of their main Raman bands proposed in this work.

Keywords: Elemental homogeneity; Mars2020; Mineral homogeneity; Perseverance rover; SuperCam calibration target; Uncertainties.

MeSH terms

Calibration
Extraterrestrial Environment* / chemistry
Mars*
Minerals / analysis
Spectrum Analysis, Raman / methods

Substances

Minerals