Method and system for desorbing and ionizing chemical compounds from surfaces
AssigneeLicentia Ltd.
InventorsRisto Kostiainen, Tiina Kauppila, Markus Haapala, Jaroslav Pol, Tapio Kotiaho
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Abstract
The invention relates to a method and system for ionizing analyte-containing sample lying on a surface of a substrate. The method comprises directing to the sample a heated flow of desorption gas in order to desorb analyte from the surface, and simultaneously directing to the sample light capable of ionizing the desorbed analyte in the presence of the desorption gas. The invention provides a method and system suitable for efficiently producing ions of neutral and nonpolar molecules on surfaces, for example for mass spectrometric purposes.
Claims15
A method for ionizing analyte-containing sample lying on a surface of a substrate, comprising:
- directing to the sample a heated flow of desorption gas in order to desorb analyte from the surface, the desorption gas comprising a mixture of solvent-free nebulizing gas and solvent vapor, and
- simultaneously directing to the sample light capable of ionizing the desorbed analyte in the presence of the desorption gas,
- wherein said desorption gas is produced and directed to the sample by
- feeding a liquid solvent and a nebulizer gas to a nebulizer,
- in the nebulizer, vaporizing the liquid solvent by heating to a target temperature above the vaporizing temperature of the solvent,
- directing the heated solvent vapor through an outlet of the nebulizer to the sample using a stream of the nebulizing gas,
- whereby
- said heating is strong enough to produce desorption gas essentially free of solvent droplets, and
- the ionization of the analyte takes place at least partly indirectly through ionization of the solvent vapor by said light.
A method for mass spectrometric analysis of an analyte-containing sample lying on a surface of a substrate, comprising
- directing to the sample a heated flow of desorption gas in order to desorb analyte from the surface, the desorption as comprising a mixture of solvent-free nebulizing gas and solvent vapor, and
- simultaneously directing to the sample light capable of ionizing the analyte in order to form analyte ions, and
- separating and detecting the analyte ions based on their masses and electric charges wherein said desorption gas is produced and directed to the sample by
- feeding a liquid solvent and a nebulizer gas to a nebulizer,
- in the nebulizer, vaporizing the liquid solvent by heating to a target temperature above the vaporizing temperature of the solvent,
- directing the heated solvent vapor through an outlet of the nebulizer to the sample using a stream of the nebulizing gas,
- whereby
- the desorption gas is essentially free of solvent droplets, and
- the ionization of the analyte takes place at least partly indirectly through ionization of the solvent vapor by said light.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.