9506463 Bado The objective of this research is to develop a high-sensitivity analytical instrument for determining the chemical composition of various organic, inorganic, and biological samples. The instrument will employ the time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) imaging technique with femtosecond laser post-ionization to map with spatial resolution better than 100 nanometers in two- and three-dimensions. TOF-SIMS is a variant of surface mass spectroscopy and has been proven through prior research to have the capability for imaging at the predicted sensitivity. In this research phase, the sensitivity of the analyzer and its imaging capabilities will be increased, and its design and operation will be simplified. An instrument such as this has many potential commercial applications. It would be useful in fields including surface phenomena analysis, environmental sciences, clinical analysis, catalysis, semiconductor testing, and drug screening.
