Contactless Manipulation and Raman Analysis of Cometary Analogs and Micrometeorites by Acoustic Levitation

Extraterrestrial material collected during space missions is highly exposed to contamination issues during on-Earth analysis. Although high-protection-level protocols were developed, to minimize the contamination due to sample manipulation and the substrate contribution an optimal strategy is to perform in situ analysis with contactless techniques. Optical and acoustic trapping represent ideal candidates for contactless manipulation and analysis of nanometer-to-millimeter-sized particles. Here, we show results of the manipulation of cometary analogs and micrometeorite samples using a single-axis acoustic levitator. The investigation of the particle dynamics in the trap allows the calculation of the trap spring constants that are found in the mN/m range. In addition, we collect the Raman spectra of two levitated fragments of Saratov meteorite, demonstrating that acoustic levitation can be effectively used for the contactless and low-contamination characterization of samples of interest in astrophysics.