# US 2022/0037142 A1 · Desorption ion source with dopant-gas assisted ionization > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2022/0037142 A1 - Document ID: US20220037142A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 17/392,592 - Filed: 2021-08-03 - Published: 2022-02-03 - Earliest claimed: 2020-08-03 - Assignees: Bruker Daltonics, Inc. - Applicants: Bruker Daltonics GmbH & Co. KG; Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster - Inventors: Christoph Hauke Manfred BOOKMEYER; Jens SOLTWISCH; Klaus DREISEWERD - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20220037142A1 ## CPC - H01J 49/0463: {Desorption by laser or particle beam, followed by ionisation as a separate step (sample holder per se H01J49/0418)} - H01J 49/164: {Laser desorption/ionisation, e.g. matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation [MALDI] (sample holders H01J49/0418)} - H01J 49/0027: {Methods for using particle spectrometers} - H01J 49/145: {using chemical ionisation} - H01J 49/24: Vacuum systems, e.g. maintaining desired pressures - H01J 49/0418: {for laser desorption, e.g. matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation [MALDI] plates or surface enhanced laser desorption/ionisation [SELDI] plates} - H01J: ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS (spark-gaps H01T; electric arc lamps H05B31/00; particle accelerators H05H) ## Abstract Disclosed is a device to generate ions from a deposited sample, comprising: A chamber which is arranged and designed to keep the deposited sample in a conditioned environment comprising a dopant gas, A desorption device which is arranged and designed to desorb the deposited sample in the chamber using an energy burst, An ionization device which, for the purpose of ionization, is arranged and designed to irradiate the desorbed sample in the chamber using coherent electromagnetic waves or expose it to an electric discharge, a plasma, or light of an arc discharge lamp with broadband emission spectrum, which are chosen such that the dopant gas is receptive to them, and An extraction device which is arranged and designed to extract ions from the desorbed sample and transfer them into an analyzer. Disclosed is also a method which is preferably conducted on such a device. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A device to generate ions from a deposited sample, comprising: a chamber which is arranged and designed to keep the deposited sample in a conditioned environment, where the conditioned environment comprises a dopant gas, a desorption device which is arranged and designed to desorb the deposited sample in the chamber using an energy burst, an ionization device which, for the purpose of ionization, is arranged and designed to irradiate the desorbed sample in the chamber using coherent electromagnetic waves which are chosen such that the dopant gas is receptive to them, and an extraction device which is arranged and designed to extract ions from the desorbed sample and transfer them into an analyzer. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The device according to claim 1, wherein the dopant gas is selected from the groups: (i) polar aprotic solvents such as acetone, anisole, and chlorobenzene, (ii) polar protic solvents such as isopropanol, and/or (iii) non-polar solvents such as toluene. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The device according to claim 1, wherein the chamber has a feed-in device which is arranged and designed to feed in a gas with low reactivity as buffer gas for the conditioned environment. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The device according to claim 3, wherein the feed-in device is arranged and designed to admix the dopant gas to the buffer gas. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The device according to claim 1, wherein the chamber is connected to a vacuum source to evacuate the environment of the deposited sample. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The device according to claim 5, wherein the vacuum source is arranged and designed to maintain a pressure which is substantially higher than a high vacuum (>10−3 hectopascal) and lower than around 102 hectopascal. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The device according to claim 1, wherein the desorption device is arranged and designed to direct an energetic beam onto the deposited sample to trigger the energy burst. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The device according to claim 7, wherein the energetic beam is a pulsed laser beam to ablate the deposited sample. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The device according to claim 7, wherein the energetic beam and the coherent electromagnetic waves are not aligned in parallel, but have directions of propagation which are at an angle to each other. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The device according to claim 1, wherein the coherent electromagnetic waves have a wavelength longer than around 140 nanometers. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The device according to claim 1, wherein the ionization device is arranged and designed to irradiate the desorbed sample with a pulse of coherent electromagnetic waves tempo-rally coordinated with the energy burst. ### Claim 12 A device to generate ions from a deposited sample, comprising: a chamber which is arranged and designed to keep the deposited sample in a conditioned environment, where the conditioned environment comprises a dopant gas, a desorption device which is arranged and designed to desorb the deposited sample in the chamber using an energy burst, an ionization device which, for the purpose of ionization, is arranged and designed to expose the desorbed sample in the chamber to an electric discharge, a plasma, or light of an arc discharge lamp with broadband emission spectrum, which are chosen such that the dopant gas is receptive to them, and an extraction device which is arranged and designed to extract ions from the desorbed sample and transfer them into an analyzer. ### Claim 13 A method to generate ions from a deposited sample, comprising: keeping the deposited sample in a conditioned environment, which comprises a dopant gas, desorbing the deposited sample using an energy burst, ionizing particles in the desorbed sample by exciting molecules of the dopant gas and providing a charge carrier transfer between the dopant gas molecules and the particles in the desorbed sample, and extracting ions from the desorbed sample and transferring the ions into an analyzer. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method according to claim 13, wherein the dopant gas molecules are excited using coherent electromagnetic waves. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The method according to claim 13, wherein the dopant gas molecules are excited by an electric discharge, a plasma or light of an arc discharge lamp with broadband emission spectrum. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The method according to claim 13 wherein said charge carrier transfer is a transfer from the dopant molecules to the particles in the desorbed sample.