Simultaneous molecular and elemental mapping under ambient conditions by coupling AP MeV SIMS and HIPIXE

Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) consists of a set of analytical techniques addressing elemental composition of inorganic material normally conducted using ion beams in the MeV kinetic energy range. Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry using MeV ions (MeV SIMS) is the only IBA technique which can provide extensive molecular information about organic materials. MeV ions can be extracted into air hence offering the potential to apply MeV SIMS under atmospheric pressure. At the University of Surrey Ion Beam Centre, a fully ambient MeV SIMS setup has been developed and termed “Ambient Pressure MeV SIMS”. This AP MeV SIMS can be optimized for analysis and imaging of organic molecules. MeV SIMS relies upon electronic sputtering of the target material and this is much more efficient in insulating or organic targets, and less efficient in conducting metallic materials. PIXE, on the other hand, is efficient at providing good signals from elemental metallic systems, but does not readily provide molecular information from organics. The combination of the two techniques – preferably simultaneously with the same beam – provides useful complementary information which can readily be combined. Here we present pioneering preliminary work in simultaneous molecular and elemental imaging of a complex sample comprising of two organic species and two metallic species by combining AP MeV SIMS with Heavy Ion Particle Induced X-ray emission (HIPIXE).