Highly accurate isotope composition measurements by a miniature laser ablation mass spectrometer designed for in situ investigations on planetary surfaces

Towards Structural Analysis of Polymeric Contaminants in Electrodeposited Cu films

“…To overcome these inherent limitations of the SIMS technique and to determine the actual incorporation of the suppressing complex into the final copper deposit, we made use of a truly quantitative, sensitive (10 ppb element/isotope concentration in sample material, atomic fraction) LIMS depth profiling instrument that can achieve even sub-nanometer vertical resolution [33][34][35][36][37][38]. The capabilities of this technique on the analysis of copper electrodeposits prepared with the Imep-SPS additive package were recently proven for multilayered samples that were also prepared by an oscillatory Cu electrodeposition [41].…”

“…For that purpose we conducted complementary Laser Ionization/Ablation Mass Spectrometry (LIMS) [33][34][35][36][37][38], Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) and Focused Ion Beam (FIB) investigations on Imep-assisted copper electrodeposits and proved its marginal embedment into the copper matrix. Preliminary laser desorption studies performed inside layers of high additive concentration support the validity of our proposed reaction mechanism (Fig.…”

“…The counter electrode was placed inside a glass compartment separated from the main electrochemical cell by a glass frit. [33][34][35][36][37]. An ultrashort pulsed laser system (pulse width τ ∼ 190 fs, wavelength λ = 775 nm, laser pulse repetition rate ≤ 1 kHz) is used as an ablation ionization source [35].…”

Laser Ablation/Ionisation Mass Spectrometry: Sensitive and Quantitative Chemical Depth Profiling of Solid Materials

“…[26] Unfortunately, the lander platform was cancelled later on due to budgetary reasons but since its first design in 2003 LMS has been continuously further developed. [4,13,17,[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] Today, LMS represents the most powerful and versatile LIMS system ever designed for in situ space investigations and exhibits top performing figures of merit. The system has the capability to conduct quantitative measurements with high detection sensitivity (10 ppb, atomic fraction) and with a dynamic range of about eight orders of magnitude.…”

“…The system has the capability to conduct quantitative measurements with high detection sensitivity (10 ppb, atomic fraction) and with a dynamic range of about eight orders of magnitude. [17,37] It allows measurements of element isotopes with high accuracy, [38] enables the elemental imaging of heterogeneous materials with micrometre resolution, [23,32,35,36] and provides high vertical depth profiling capabilities with sub-nanometre resolution. [4,13] The measurement capabilities of LMS for elemental imaging and depth profiling of solid materials are presented in more detail in section 3, where most recent and current measurements conducted on different sample materials, including the chemical mapping of an Allende meteorite sample, depth profiling of Si-supported Cu layers, chemical analysis of micrometre fossils embedded in an argonite matrix, and capabilities towards 3D elemental imaging of bronze-alloy samples are presented.…”