MeV-SIMS capillary microprobe for molecular imaging

An MeV-SIMS microprobe has been constructed based on primary beam collimation by a conical glass capillary. Molecular surface mapping is obtained by raster scanning of the sample with a piezo-driven XY stage. The angular divergence of the collimated beam is smaller than 0.3 mrad, which allows a relatively large distance between capillary exit and sample without a significant loss in lateral resolution. With a capillary of 5 μm outlet diameter a lateral resolution of approximately 10 μm has been observed at a working distance of 50 mm. Capillary collimation can be obtained in a very simple and inexpensive fashion and is virtually independent of the used beam particle properties over a large range of ion mass and energy.