Sputtering from Liquid and Solid Organic Matrices

The use of a liquid matrix in organic secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) provides several advantages [1]: Firstly, high and long lasting secondary molecular ion signals are obtained from samples by the application of high incident particle fluxes. Secondly, abundant molecular ion signals are recorded from thermally very labile large molecules. Thirdly, knowledge of solvent chemistry, ion chemistry in solution and colloid chemistry can be utilized to control the intensity and type of molecular ions formed, the kind of fragments, and the level of fragmentation, to a significant extent.