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

化学研究仪器计划的这一奖项将允许位于大学园区的宾夕法尼亚州立大学化学系获得飞行时间二次离子质谱仪(TOF-SIMS)。将进行的研究包括：TOF-SIMS的表面化学，成像TOF-SIMS在有机材料界面研究中的应用，成像TOF-SIMS用于筛选催化抗体，聚合物捕获陶瓷纳米簇的合成和表征，神经细胞膜的成像，KeV粒子轰击过程的分子动力学模拟、扫描隧道显微镜研究以及利用成像TOF-SIMS研究纳米复合材料。飞行时间二次离子质谱仪(TOF-SIMS)可以同时测定表面样品的分子组成和分布。它使用低剂量的初级离子脉冲光束，将原子和分子的次级离子从样品表面射出。这些二次离子被加速进入飞行时间光谱仪，在那里离子根据它们的动能在时间上分离，并提供质量分散信息。半导体器件表面污染的研究、聚合物材料的表面性质和处理表面的有机残留物的研究，以及生物医学组织的研究，只是得益于飞行时间二次离子质谱仪技术独特能力的少数几个应用领域。

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.