Experimental results from equimolar PEG and protein standards samples are presented from a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer equipped with both ionizing detectors and the novel single molecule sensitive cryodetectors. The data are consistent with a model hypothesis suggesting that the observed decrease in signal strength in conventional ionizing detector MALDI-TOF mass spectrometers can be explained by the exponentially decreasing quantum efficiency of ionizing detectors. Cryodetectors, in contrast, have a mass independent detection efficiency of 100% on impact and provide additional information on the molecule state owing to the calorimetric nature of the detection mechanism.

Experimental results from equimolar PEG and protein standards samples are presented from a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer equipped with both ionizing detectors and the novel single molecule sensitive cryodetectors. The data are consistent with a model hypothesis suggesting that the observed decrease in signal strength in conventional ionizing detector MALDI-TOF mass spectrometers can be explained by the exponentially decreasing quantum efficiency of ionizing detectors. Cryodetectors, in contrast, have a mass independent detection efficiency of 100% on impact and provide additional information on the molecule state owing to the calorimetric nature of the detection mechanism.

The launch of molecules from liquid surfaces in a time of flight mass spectrometer has been investigated using different sample preparation techniques, and by exposing the liquid samples to two different laser wavelengths, 337 nm from a N2 ultraviolet laser and 10.6 microm from a CO2 infrared laser. The molecules were detected with cryodetectors measuring the energy of the individual molecules. We present insulin and lysozyme results from samples introduced into the vacuum through a micromachined silicon injector, and from samples consisting of a glycerol droplet deposited directly on the sample holder at the high voltage stage of the ion optics.

No abstract