Organic Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry: Signal Enhancement by Water Vapor Injection

The enhancement of the static secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) signals resulting from the injection, closely to the sample surface, of H2O vapor at relatively high-pressure, was investigated for a set of organic materials. While the ion signals are generally improved with increasing H2O pressure upon 12 keV Ga+ bombardment, a specific enhancement of the protonated ion intensity is clearly demonstrated in each case. For instance, the presence of H2O vapor induces an enhancement by one order of magnitude of the [M + H]+ static SIMS intensity for the antioxidant Irgafos 168 and a ∼1.5-fold increase for polymers such as poly(vinyl pyrrolidone).

Graphical AbstractA new protocol based on the use of water vapor flooding is employed to enhance the static-SIMS intensities of organic materials.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (103 K)Download as PowerPoint slide