A method is presented for generating an ion beam. The method includes: positioning atoms in a cavity of an optical resonator that defines an optical dipole trap; exciting the atoms while the atoms are trapped in the optical dipole trap using two or more laser beams, thereby forming ions; and driving the ions along an output axis towards a target by applying an electric field to the ions. In one aspect, the ion density of the ion source is regulated, for example using feedback control. Changing the ion density may be achieved, for example by inputting the atomic excitation spectrum into a feedback loop and controlling the power of the two or more laser beams using feedback from the feedback loop.

A system and method comprising an ion production chamber having an ultra-violet light source disposed towards said chamber, a coated quartz plate between the chamber and the UV source whose coating absorbs incident UV light and ejects electrons into the chamber through the photoelectric effect, a harvest gas disposed to flow through the chamber from an inlet to an outlet, and a jet operable to introduce a sample into the harvest gas flow. In some embodiments the system includes using helium as the harvest gas. Certain embodiments include introducing a sample perpendicular to the harvest gas flow and using multiple sample introduction jets to increase mixing efficiency. In some embodiments the harvest gas and particle sample jet are one and the same. The charge sample may be coupled to a MEMS-based electrometer.

The invention proposes a mass spectrometry apparatus for ultraviolet light ionization of neutral lost molecules, and a method for operating same. The mass spectrometry apparatus for ultraviolet light ionization of neutral lost molecules includes a quadrupole tandem special linear ion trap mass analyzer, a vacuum ultraviolet lamp, a lamp front shutter, a gradient vacuum system and other necessary components for the mass spectrometry apparatus. In addition, the invention also proposes a method for operating the apparatus to efficiently store ions, fragment and analyze the ions, perform ultraviolet efficient ionization on lost neutral molecules, and then analyze the ions.

Disclosed herein are compositions for ionizing a target and methods for making the compositions. In some embodiments, the compositions can include a structured substrate having a plurality of upright surface features, for example, microscale or nanoscale pillars, in contact with an initiator. Also disclosed herein are methods for ionizing targets.

An ion source for a mass spectrometer comprises: an evacuated chamber having an interior receiving a gaseous sample effluent stream; a source of light pulses of pulse width 150 femtoseconds or less; a window of the evacuated chamber through which the light pulses pass into the evacuated chamber interior; one or more mirrors within the evacuated chamber disposed such that the light pulses are reflected from each of the one or mirrors such that the reflected pulses are caused to focus at one or more focal regions within the effluent stream within the evacuated chamber interior; and a pair of electrodes disposed at opposite sides of the one or more focal regions.

The present invention provides a mass spectrometer comprising a sample inlet, an ionization source, a mass analyzer, and an ion detector, wherein the ionization source comprises a photoionization detector lamp. The invention also provides mass spectrometers comprising two photoionization detector lamps. The use of a photoionization detector lamp can provide an increase in the signal of detected compounds as compared to the signal of detected compounds obtained using a comparable mass spectrometer with a conventional electron pumped beam lamp.

The present invention provides an imaging mass spectrometer which generates ions by irradiating a sample with a laser beam and performs mass spectrometry of the ions, the imaging mass spectrometer including: a laser irradiation unit 30 configured to emit the laser beam toward the sample, a condensing optical system 33 disposed between the laser irradiation unit 30 and the sample and configured to condense the laser beam emitted from the laser irradiation unit 30, an image acquiring unit 40 configured to acquire a condensing state checking image which is an optical microscopic image capable of checking a condensing state on the sample of the laser beam emitted from the laser irradiation unit 30, and a display unit 64 configured to display the condensing state checking image acquired by the image acquiring unit 40 on a display screen.

The present invention relates to the high resolution imaging of samples using imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) and to the imaging of biological samples by imaging mass cytometry (IMC) in which labelling atoms are detected by IMS. LA-ICP-MS (a form of IMS in which the sample is ablated by a laser, the ablated material is then ionised in an inductively coupled plasma before the ions are detected by mass spectrometry) has been used for analysis of various substances, such as mineral analysis of geological samples, analysis of archaeological samples, and imaging of biological substances. However, traditional LA-ICP-MS systems and methods may not provide high resolution. Described herein are methods and systems for high resolution IMS and IMC.

The present invention relates to the generation of an Atomic Therapeutic Indicator (ATI) for a test sample by the quantification of manganese; in voxels of a 3D region of the sample, wherein the 3D region is topographically defined by co-ordinates XxYxZ. The ATI is used to assess the radio-responsiveness i.e. sensitivity or resistance to radiation treatment, of a cancer i.e. a tumour/neoplasm. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention relates to a method of generating the ATI, assessing the radio-responsiveness of a tumour/neoplasm based on the ATI and, based on the assessment, either treating or not treating the tumour with radiation.

The present invention also relates to a method of determining if a cancer is likely to reoccur post radiation treatment comprising quantifying the level of manganese in voxels of a 3D region of a test sample from the cancer and determining the frequency of high metallomic regions (HMRs) in the cancer, wherein a high frequency of HMRs is indicative that the cancer is likely to reoccur and a low frequency of HMRs is indicative that the cancer is unlikely to reoccur; and associated methods of treatment.

The invention further relates to a method of determining the radio-responsiveness of a melanoma, the method comprising determining the level of melanin in a test sample from the melanoma, wherein the lower the level of melanin the more sensitive the melanoma is to radiation and the higher the level of melanin the more resistant the melanoma is to radiation; and associated methods of treatment.

An ion source includes a plasma generator for supplying plasma at an ionization region proximate to a sample surface. The plasma generator applies energy that may be utilized for desorbing analytes from the sample surface as well as for generating plasma by which analytes are excited or ionized. Desorption and ionization/excitation may be controlled as individual modes. The ion source may be interfaced with an ion-based or optical-based spectrometer. A sample support may be provided, which may be capable of performing analytical separation.