Laser Ablation Electrospray Ionization Achieves 5 μm Resolution Using a Microlensed Fiber
Yifan Meng, Xiaowei Song, Richard N. Zare
Abstract
A pulsed (10 Hz) infrared (IR) (1064 nm) laser is focused on a sample surface by means of a microlensed fiber. Analytes desorbed from the surface are captured by charged microdroplets before entering a mass spectrometer. By translating the sample surface, a chemical map is generated with a resolution of 5 μm, defined as the change from 20 to 80% of the analyte signal intensity. As a demonstration of the power of this new imaging technique, analytes from a parsnip root section are imaged and compared with that obtained from conventional laser ablation electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The improvement in spatial resolution is about a factor of 20.
Topics & Concepts
ChemistryMass spectrometryAnalytical Chemistry (journal)AnalyteResolution (logic)Laser ablationLaserIonizationMALDI imagingFiberElectrospray ionizationAmbient ionizationOpticsChemical ionizationChromatographyMatrix-assisted laser desorption/ionizationIonAdsorptionDesorptionComputer scienceOrganic chemistryPhysicsArtificial intelligenceMass Spectrometry Techniques and ApplicationsAnalytical Chemistry and ChromatographyAnalytical chemistry methods development