Material ejection and redeposition following atmospheric pressure near-field laser ablation on molecular solids.

Near-field laser ablation (NF-LA) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) is very promising for highly spatially resolved chemical analyses on various substrates at atmospheric pressure, for example, in materials and life science applications. Although nanoscale sample craters can be produced routinely, no molecular mass spectra of ablated material from craters of View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Photoelectron emission as an alternative electron impact ionization source for ion trap mass spectrometry.

Electron impact ionization has several known advantages; however, heated filament electron sources have pressure limitations and their power consumption can be significant for certain applications, such as in field-portable instruments. Herein, we evaluate a VUV krypton lamp as an alternative source for ionization inside the ion trap of a mass spectrometer. The observed fragmentation patterns are more characteristic of electron impact ionization than photoionization.

Towards nanoscale molecular analysis at atmospheric pressure by a near-field laser ablation ion trap/time-of-flight mass spectrometer.

An instrument that combines near-field laser ablation at atmospheric pressure with an ion trap/time-of-flight mass spectrometer was developed. By coupling a UV laser into a fiber tip of a scanning near-field optical microscope, ablation craters much smaller than achievable with conventional laser optics can in principle be obtained. Laser ablation was performed on samples such as DHB, anthracene, and pyrene.