University of North Texas

Stephen Davila

Guido Fridolin Verbeck, Iv

A soft-landing (SL) instrument for depositing ions onto substrates using a laser ablation source is described herein. The instrument of the instant invention is designed with a custom drift tube and a split-ring ion optic for the isolation of selected ions and is capable of operating at atmospheric pressure. The drift tube allows for the separation and thermalization of ions formed after laser ablation through collisions with an inert bath gas that allow the ions to be landed at energies below 1 eV onto substrates. The split-ring ion optic is capable of directing ions toward the detector or a landing substrate for selected components.

Controlled deposition of metal and metal cluster ions by surface field patterning in soft-landing devices

A soft-landing (SL) instrument for depositing ions onto substrates using a laser ablation source is described herein. The instrument of the instant invention is designed with a custom drift tube and a split-ring ion optic for the isolation of selected ions. The drift tube allows for the separation and thermalization of ions formed after laser ablation through collisions with an inert bath gas that allow the ions to be landed at energies below 1 eV onto substrates. The split-ring ion optic is capable of directing ions toward the detector or a landing substrate for selected components. The inventors further performed atomic force microscopy (AFM) and drift tube measurements to characterize the performance characteristics of the instrument.

Silver nanoparticles as a sample matrix for Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI) along with a novel method for nanoparticle development is described herein. The silver nanoparticles were generated from silver ions on the surface of a MALDI plate utilizing a Soft Landing Ion Mobility (SLIM) instrument. Upon interaction with the surface the incident silver ions were labile and aggregated into the nanoparticle structures in a time dependent fashion. Post landing analysis were completed by Time of Flight mass spectrometry (TOF), and of particular interest in the spectra were the elimination of low mass interference peaks that generally plague organic based matrices. The approach of the present invention significantly decreases sample preparation time and may lead to a preparation free MALDI source by soft landing a matrix directly on the sample surface.

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Odessa, TX, United States of America

Stephen Davila