Acquisition of a Time-of-Flight Imaging Ion Microprobe for Research in Chemistry

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This award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation Program will allow the Department of Chemistry at Pennsylvania State University at University Park to acquire a time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometer (TOF-SIMS). The research studies to be performed include the following: Surface Chemistry with TOF-SIMS, Applications of Imaging TOF-SIMS to the Study of the Interfaces of Organic Materials, The Use of Imaging TOF-SIMS to Screen for Catalytic Antibodies, Synthesis and Characterization of Polymer-Trapped Ceramic Nanoclusters, Imaging of Neuronal Membranes, Molecular Dynamics Simulations of the keV Particle Bombardment Process, Studies Involving Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Studies of Nanoscale Composites Using Imaging TOF-SIMS. A time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometer (TOF-SIMS) can simultaneously determine the molecular makeup and distribution of a surface sample. It uses a low-dose pulsed beam of primary ions to eject secondary ions of atoms and molecules from the sample's surface. These secondary ions are accelerated into a TOF spectrometer where the ions separate in time according to their kinetic energies and provide mass dispersion information. The study of surface contamination of semiconductor devices, surface properties of polymer material, and organic residues on treated surfaces, as well as studies of biomedical tissues are just a few application areas that have benefited from the unique capabilities of the TOF-secondary ion mass spectrometry technique.