SEM-CL imaging of potential reference materials for U-Pb dating of apatite

The dataset includes cathodoluminescence (CL) and secondary electron (SE) micrographs, as well as large-area spectra (LAS), collected using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) for five potential reference materials (fluorapatite samples: TUBAF#42, TUBAF#37-ref, MDG-21, Barb-21-ap, and Kara-18-ap) as well as two calibration materials (NW-1 and McClure) for U-Pb dating of minerals from the apatite supergroup. The micrographs document two sets of samples that were embedded in the centers of two 25.4-mm acrylic discs using epoxy resin and polished.

Both mounts were previously used for in situ U-Pb measurements conducted using either laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) or secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). The collected CL and SE images show the locations of analytical spots in relation to the internal textures of the crystals. The file Data-description.pdf contains a description of the data, including details about the samples, methods, software, and files included in this dataset.