Tip enhanced laser assisted sample transfer for biomolecule mass spectrometry
AssigneeBoard of Supervisors of Louisiana State University
InventorsKERMIT KING MURRAY, SUMAN GHORAI, CHINTHAKA ARAVINDA SENEVERATNE
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Abstract
Disclosed are various embodiments for transferring molecules from a surface for mass spectrometry and other sample analysis methods, and the like. A laser is focused onto a tip of an atomic force microscope to remove and capture a quantity of molecules from the surface, so they can be transferred to a mass spectrometer or another instrument for analysis.
Claims20
A method for transferring molecules from a film to a collection device for analysis via an atomic force microscope and a pulsed laser comprising:
- positioning a gold-coated silicon tip of the atomic force microscope above the film to image a sample of the molecules, the gold-coated silicon tip having a radius of curvature and being positioned at a first distance from the film;
- focusing the pulsed laser onto the gold-coated silicon tip of the atomic force microscope;
- ablating the sample from a plurality of ablation spots on the film onto the collection device, the collection device being suspended at a first position relative to the gold-coated silicon tip, wherein a first amount of material from the sample is ablated from each of the ablation spots and transferred onto the collection device.
A system for capturing and transferring molecules from a surface for mass spectrometry comprising:
- a pulsed laser configured to:
- focus onto a gold-coated silicon tip of an atomic force microscope;
- and
- ablate the molecules from a plurality of ablation spots on the surface;
- and
- a collection device configured to:
- capture the molecules ablated from the plurality of ablation spots, the collection device being suspended at a first position relative to the gold-coated silicon tip of the atomic force microscope.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.