Laser post-ionization secondary neutral mass spectrometry for ultra-trace analysis of samples from space return missions

A new generation of secondary neutral mass spectrometry (SNMS) instruments has been developed that is especially designed for laser post-ionization (LPI). These instruments combine high useful yield and high background discrimination. Results presented here demonstrate that these instruments can detect one in every four atoms removed from a samples surface - a greater than one order of magnitude improvement over current large frame secondary ion mass spectrometry instruments. Because of their high sensitivity, these new LPI-SNMS instruments are especially amenable to analysis of samples of limited size and rare one-of-a-kind samples. Such an application is analysis of samples returned to Earth from space by the Genesis and Stardust Discovery missions of NASA.