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Nano Research 2018, 11(11): 5989-5996 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-018-2113-x
Research Article | Issue | Published: 20 June 2018

Sub-micrometer-scale chemical analysis by nanosecond-laser-induced tip-enhanced ablation and ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Show Author's Information Xiaoping Li1,  Zhisen Liang1,  Shudi Zhang1,  Tongtong Wang1,  Wei Hang1,2( )
Department of Chemistry and the MOE Key Lab of Spectrochemical Analysis & InstrumentationCollege of Chemistry and Chemical EngineeringXiamen UniversityXiamen361005China
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental ScienceXiamen UniversityXiamen361005China
Keywords:
tip-enhanced near-field technique, time-of-flight mass spectrometer, nanosecond laser, sub-micrometer-scale spatial resolution
Cite this article:
Li X, Liang Z, Zhang S, et al. Sub-micrometer-scale chemical analysis by nanosecond-laser-induced tip-enhanced ablation and ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Nano Research, 2018, 11(11): 5989-5996. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-018-2113-x
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Abstract Full text About this article

The tip-enhanced near-field technique has drawn great attention recently because it is a promising technique for nanoscale chemical analysis when combined with other spectroscopic methods. Furthermore, this integration can improve the spatial resolution of mass spectrometry. In this study, a nanosecond-laser (ns-laser)-induced tip-enhanced ablation and ionization source was coupled to an in-house-built laser ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Sub-micrometer-sized craters (with diameters of 200–300 nm) were observed on titanium (Ti) film coated onto a gold (Au) substrate. The corresponding mass spectra were acquired, which verified that sub-micrometer-sized ablation (and subsequently ionization) could be achieved by the ns-laser-induced tip-enhanced electromagnetic field. In addition, formation of the crater was studied with an increased number of laser pulses. Furthermore, a mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) experiment was performed with potassium chloride (KCl) residue dropped onto nano-patterned gold pillars, achieving 80-nm lateral resolution.


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About this article

Sub-micrometer-scale chemical analysis by nanosecond-laser-induced tip-enhanced ablation and ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Show Author's information Xiaoping Li1, Zhisen Liang1, Shudi Zhang1, Tongtong Wang1, Wei Hang1,2( )
Department of Chemistry and the MOE Key Lab of Spectrochemical Analysis & InstrumentationCollege of Chemistry and Chemical EngineeringXiamen UniversityXiamen361005China
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental ScienceXiamen UniversityXiamen361005China

Abstract

The tip-enhanced near-field technique has drawn great attention recently because it is a promising technique for nanoscale chemical analysis when combined with other spectroscopic methods. Furthermore, this integration can improve the spatial resolution of mass spectrometry. In this study, a nanosecond-laser (ns-laser)-induced tip-enhanced ablation and ionization source was coupled to an in-house-built laser ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Sub-micrometer-sized craters (with diameters of 200–300 nm) were observed on titanium (Ti) film coated onto a gold (Au) substrate. The corresponding mass spectra were acquired, which verified that sub-micrometer-sized ablation (and subsequently ionization) could be achieved by the ns-laser-induced tip-enhanced electromagnetic field. In addition, formation of the crater was studied with an increased number of laser pulses. Furthermore, a mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) experiment was performed with potassium chloride (KCl) residue dropped onto nano-patterned gold pillars, achieving 80-nm lateral resolution.

Keywords: tip-enhanced near-field technique, time-of-flight mass spectrometer, nanosecond laser, sub-micrometer-scale spatial resolution

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 02 January 2018
Revised: 29 May 2018
Accepted: 30 May 2018
Published: 20 June 2018
Issue date: November 2018

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21427813) for financial support of this work. This work is also supported by NFFTBS (No. J1310024).

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