Soft x-ray ablation mass spectrometry: high sensitivity elemental trace analysis

We have previously shown soft x-ray laser ablation time-of-flight mass spectrometry has the ability to detect singly ionized alanine molecules arising from the single shot ablation of a ∼50 zeptoliter volume. This superior sensitivity results from the ability to focus the 46.9 nm wavelength (26.4 eV energy per photon) laser beam to the diffraction limit, the strong absorption, and the efficient photoionization of the soft x-ray photons. In this paper we describe results on the application of soft x-ray laser mass spectrometry to elemental trace analysis in inorganic materials. Two dimensional imaging with spatial resolution of 80 nm in inorganic samples is also demonstrated.