A mass and/or ion mobility spectrometer 100 comprises a sample plate 102 that supports a target sample 104. The spectrometer 100 further comprises a laser source 110 that generates a series of laser pulses 112 and a control system 118 that moves a focal point of the laser source 110 substantially continuously across the sample plate 102 such that respective packets of ions are generated by respective laser pulses 112 impinging upon respective locations on the target sample 104. The control system 118 performs plural cycles of ion analysis that each produce a set of spectral data corresponding to one or more of the packets of ions. The spectrometer 100 can provide mass and/or ion mobility spectrometry having increased speed and efficiency.

The present invention provides a method enabling a quantitative analysis of a polymer by MALDI mass spectrometry, and a method for manufacturing a sample for MALDI mass spectrometry for a quantitative analysis of a polymer. To that end, the methods can increase reproducibility of a MALDI spectrum by making uniform the thickness of a sample affecting the pattern in a polymer MALDI spectrum. The sample according to the present invention is applicable also to a commercial MALDI-TOF instrument, and, thus, can quantitatively analyze a polymer in a more efficient and faster manner.

Presented is a device for the preparation of samples for ionization by laser desorption, especially MALDI, that comprises a sample support assembly with a surface which has an array of sites for holding substances, and an outer contour surrounding the sample site array, and a flat cover which can be placed flush on or over the surrounding outer contour such that a shielded gas compartment is formed between the cover and the surface, said cover having an array of apertures arranged such that each aperture comes to rest over a corresponding sample site. A gas transport system is also provided on the assembly and cover, which serves to introduce a protective gas into the shielded gas compartment between cover and surface so that a protective gas atmosphere is generated in the gas compartment to protect the substances on the sample sites against atmospheric influences. An associated method is also described.

A vacuum processing apparatus 100 includes: a vacuum chamber 1; a stage 2 placed inside the vacuum chamber 1, on which an object to be processed is placed; an internal guide rail 31 laid in the vacuum chamber 1 to guide the stage 2; a through-hole 103 made in a sidewall 102 of the vacuum chamber 1; a connecting rod 4 coupled to the stage 2 at one end and inserted in the through-hole 103, the other end being disposed outside the vacuum chamber 1; a movable member 5 connected to the other end of the connecting rod 4; a driving mechanism 8 disposed outside the vacuum chamber 1 to move the movable member 5; and a bellows 6 disposed between the movable member 5 and the sidewall 102, the bellows 6 following the movement of the movable member 5 while maintaining airtightness of the vacuum chamber 1.

A sample support body for ionization of a sample, including: a substrate having a first surface, a second surface on a side opposite to the first surface, and a plurality of through-holes opening on each of the first surface and the second surface; a conductive layer provided on the first surface; and a matrix crystal layer provided on at least one of the conductive layer and the second surface, in which the matrix crystal layer is formed of a plurality of matrix crystal grains so as to include a gap communicating the plurality of through-holes with an outside.

A method of determining the presence ions in a sample, comprising: (i) resonantly ionising a sample beam containing the sample with one or more lasers arranged collinearly with the sample beam; (ii) obtaining data relating to resonantly produced electrons resulting from the ionisation of the sample beam; and (iii) determining the presence of ions in the sample using the data relating to resonant electrons.

A mass and/or ion mobility spectrometer 100 comprises a sample plate 102 that supports a target sample 104. The spectrometer 100 further comprises a laser source 110 that generates a series of laser pulses 112 and a control system 118 that moves a focal point of the laser source 110 substantially continuously across the sample plate 102 such that respective packets of ions are generated by respective laser pulses 112 impinging upon respective locations on the target sample 104. The control system 118 performs plural cycles of ion analysis that each produce a set of spectral data corresponding to one or more of the packets of ions. The spectrometer 100 can provide mass and/or ion mobility spectrometry having increased speed and efficiency.

Provided is a sample plate for mass spectrometric analysis, which comprises a substrate and a metal thin film formed on the substrate. The metal thin film contains Ag, Al or Cu as the main component and further contains a specific additive element M.sub.Ag, M.sub.Al or M.sub.Cu depending on the element as the main component, in a ratio (M.sub.Ag/Ag) of the total number of atoms of the additive element M.sub.Ag to the number of atoms of Ag of from 0.001 to 0.5, a ratio (M.sub.Al/Al) of the total number of atoms of the additive element M.sub.Al to the number of atoms of Al of from 0.001 to 0.5, or a ratio (M.sub.Cu/Cu) of the total number of atoms of the additive element M.sub.Cu to the number of atoms of Cu of from 0.001 to 0.5.

A vacuum processing apparatus 100 includes: a vacuum chamber 1; a stage 2 placed inside the vacuum chamber 1, on which an object to be processed is placed; an internal guide rail 31 laid in the vacuum chamber 1 to guide the stage 2; a through-hole 103 made in a sidewall 102 of the vacuum chamber 1; a connecting rod 4 coupled to the stage 2 at one end and inserted in the through-hole 103, the other end being disposed outside the vacuum chamber 1; a movable member 5 connected to the other end of the connecting rod 4; a driving mechanism 8 disposed outside the vacuum chamber 1 to move the movable member 5; and a bellows 6 disposed between the movable member 5 and the sidewall 102, the bellows 6 following the movement of the movable member 5 while maintaining airtightness of the vacuum chamber 1.

Systems are methods for identifying the composition of non-biological aerosol particles or biological aerosol particles including water bound to the surface of the particles, without pre-treatment using complex organic MALDI matrices. A continuous timing laser may be used to index the aerosol particles, determine optical particle properties, and trigger an IR pulse ionization laser. Ionized fragments, and optionally photons, associated with each particle produced by ionization of the particles the IR ionization laser is analyzed using one or more detectors including a TOFMS detector and an optical detector. Unique mass spectral data and optical data associated with each indexed particle is compiled using data fusion to generate a compiled data set. The compiled optical data is compared with a training data set comprising a knowledge base of known aerosol particles to predict aerosol particle composition.