The LMS-GT instrument – a new perspective for quantification with the LIMS-TOF measurement technique

Wiesendanger, Reto; Grimaudo, Valentine; Tulej, Marek; Riedo, Andreas; Lukmanov, Rustam; Ligterink, N. F. W.; Fausch, Rico; Shea, Herbert; Würz, Peter

doi:10.1039/c9ja00235a

Cited by 15 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…Improved mass resolution compared to previously known instruments was achieved in an instrument with an orthogonal ion extraction [23], and later with co-linear extraction [24] source. Advances in the development of fast ion detectors, data acquisition systems, and improvement of the modelling tools helped the development of miniature LIMS systems and high-resolution laboratory LIMS systems [24][25][26]. Without computer-assisted development tools, the detailed instrument design and optimisation of its operation would be difficult.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They demonstrated their high sensitivity and capabilities to perform high-resolution depth profiling [19,22,23]. Improved mass resolution compared to previously known instruments was achieved in an instrument with an orthogonal ion extraction [23], and later with co-linear extraction [24] source. Advances in the development of fast ion detectors, data acquisition systems, and improvement of the modelling tools helped the development of miniature LIMS systems and high-resolution laboratory LIMS systems [24][25][26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Current Progress in Femtosecond Laser Ablation/Ionisation Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

et al. 2021

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The last decade witnessed considerable progress in the development of laser ablation/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LI-TOFMS). The improvement of both the laser ablation ion sources employing femtosecond lasers and the method of ion coupling with the mass analyser led to highly sensitive element and isotope measurements, minimisation of matrix effects, and reduction of various fractionation effects. This improvement of instrumental performance can be attributed to the progress in laser technology and accompanying commercialisation of fs-laser systems, as well as the availability of fast electronics and data acquisition systems. Application of femtosecond laser radiation to ablate the sample causes negligible thermal effects, which in turn allows for improved resolution of chemical surface imaging and depth profiling. Following in the footsteps of its predecessor ns-LIMS, fs-LIMS, which employs fs-laser ablation ion sources, has been developed in the last two decades as an important method of chemical analysis and will continue to improve its performance in subsequent decades. This review discusses the background of fs-laser ablation, overviews the most relevant instrumentation and emphasises their performance figures, and summarizes the studies on several applications, including geochemical, semiconductor, and bio-relevant materials. Improving the chemical analysis is expected by the implementation of laser pulse sequences or pulse shaping methods and shorter laser wavelengths providing current progress in mass resolution achieved in fs-LIMS. In parallel, advancing the methods of data analysis has the potential of making this technique very attractive for 3D chemical analysis with micrometre lateral and sub-micrometre vertical resolution.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current Progress in Femtosecond Laser Ablation/Ionisation Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

et al. 2021

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“…TOF LIMS instruments allowing mass resolutions (m/Δm) exceeding a few thousand were developed and can be used to resolve isobaric interferences. 5,11 Alternatively, the reduction of the clusters and molecular ions from the ablated ions has been demonstrated by using a helium-filled collision cell for the ablated material in a laboratory LIMS system. 12,13 Very recently, using a double pulse laser ablation/ionization method demonstrated the reduction of cluster and molecular contributions in the recorded mass spectra.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An important interference to the accuracy and precision of isotope measurements is the presence of isobaric interferences with the ions of interest in the mass spectra caused by cluster and molecular of the same integer mass. TOF LIMS instruments allowing mass resolutions (m/Δm) exceeding a few thousand were developed and can be used to resolve isobaric interferences 5,11 . Alternatively, the reduction of the clusters and molecular ions from the ablated ions has been demonstrated by using a helium‐filled collision cell for the ablated material in a laboratory LIMS system 12,13 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotope abundance ratio measurements using femtosecond laser ablation ionization mass spectrometry

et al. 2020

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Accurate isotope ratio measurements are of high importance in various scientific fields, ranging from radio isotope geochronology of solids to studies of element isotopes fractionated by living organisms. Instrument limitations, such as unresolved isobaric inferences in the mass spectra, or cosampling of the material of interest together with the matrix material may reduce the quality of isotope measurements. Here, we describe a method for accurate isotope ratio measurements using our laser ablation ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (LIMS) that is designed for in situ planetary research. The method is based on chemical depth profiling that allows for identifying micrometer scale inclusions embedded in surrounding rocks with different composition inside the bulk of the sample. The data used for precise isotope measurements are improved using a spectrum cleaning procedure that ensures removal of low quality spectra. Furthermore, correlation of isotopes of an element is used to identify and reject the data points that, for example, do not belong to the species of interest. The measurements were conducted using IR femtosecond laser irradiation focused on the sample surface to a spot size of 12 μm. Material removal was conducted for a predefined number of laser shots, and time-of-flight mass spectra were recorded for each of the ablated layers. Measurements were conducted on NIST SRM 986 Ni isotope standard, trevorite mineral, and micrometer-sized inclusions embedded in aragonite. Our measurements demonstrate that element isotope ratios can be measured with accuracies and precision at the permille level, exemplified by the analysis of B, Mg, and Ni element isotopes. The method applied will be used for in situ investigation of samples on planetary surfaces, for accurate quantification of element fractionation induced by, for example, past or present life or by geochemical processes.

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“…13,24 The threshold was used to remove insufficient 235 U, 235 UO signals (i.e., 0 ion counts of the minor isotope for EUV TOF and NanoSIMS analysis) or saturated 238 U, 238 UO signals (i.e., counts of the major isotope above the ADC's upper dynamic range for EUV TOF analysis). Three laser shots were taken at each pixel location for EUV TOF analyses 13,25 and eight passes per pixel were collected with NanoSIMS. In this study the NU sample acted as a bracketing standard.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imaging isotopic content at the nanoscale using extreme ultraviolet laser ablation and ionization mass spectrometry

Rush

Cliff

Reilly

et al. 2021

International Conference on X-Ray Lasers 2020

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Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lasers possess unique properties for ablation and ionization at the nanoscale (≤100 nm) due to their short wavelength, high absorptivity in most materials (i.e., 10's of nanometers), and efficient photoionization in the laser-created plasmas. When coupled with a mass spectrometer, an EUV laser can be used to analyze and map chemical information in three dimensions with nanoscale spatial resolution. We have previously built an EUV time-of-flight mass spectrometer (EUV TOF) that achieved ~80 nm lateral and ~20 nm depth resolution when mapping the chemical content in organic and inorganic solids. Here, we present results from a recent study that extends EUV TOF's high resolution capabilities to the analysis of an isotopically heterogenous uranium fuel pellet that was made by blending two isotopically distinct starting materials. We show that EUV TOF can map 235 U/ 238 U heterogeneity at the 100 nm scale, revealing micron to submicron heterogeneity. For comparison, nanoscale secondary ionization mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) maps a similar distribution of U heterogeneity on a similar subsample at the same spatial scale. We also show that EUV TOF can measure the isotope ratio in a silver sample using single shot spectra. These results position EUV TOF as a promising technique for performing isotopic analyses at the nanoscale, finding applications in nuclear forensics, geology, and biology as well as in the semiconductor industry.

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The LMS-GT instrument – a new perspective for quantification with the LIMS-TOF measurement technique

Abstract: A new high-performance laser ablation and ionisation (LIMS) mass spectrometer for solid sample analysis with micrometer spatial- and up to 10 000 mass resolution is presented.

Cited by 15 publications

References 85 publications

Current Progress in Femtosecond Laser Ablation/Ionisation Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

Current Progress in Femtosecond Laser Ablation/Ionisation Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

Isotope abundance ratio measurements using femtosecond laser ablation ionization mass spectrometry

Imaging isotopic content at the nanoscale using extreme ultraviolet laser ablation and ionization mass spectrometry

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