An interface for receiving ions in a carrier gas from an atmospheric pressure ion source at a spectrometer that is configured to analyse the received ions at a lower pressure includes an interface vacuum chamber having a downstream aperture; a support assembly defining an axial bore arranged to allow a removable capillary tube to extend therethrough; ions being received from the atmospheric pressure ion source through the capillary tube and directed towards the downstream aperture; and a jet disruptor, positioned downstream from the axial bore and configured to disrupt gas flow between the axial bore and the downstream aperture only when the capillary tube is not fully inserted through the axial bore.

A mass spectrometry system includes a sample holder provided in a vacuum changer and on which a sample is disposed, an irradiator configured to perform sputtering or ionization on the sample, an analyzer configured to analyze an ionized sample generated from the sample by the irradiator, and a controller configured to control the irradiator or the analyzer and perform a first process and a second process. The first process is to determine position information of materials in the sample by irradiating a laser or ion beam to a portion of the sample, and the second process is to irradiate a laser or ion beam of a first output value to another portion of the sample in a section in which the materials in the sample change and irradiate a laser or ion beam of a second output value in other sections.

As described herein, one or more parameters of a direct ionization imaging mass spectrometer (IMS) may be set to obtain a desired plasma and deliver it to a mass detector. Depending on the application, certain parameters may be predetermined (e.g., a spot size given a desired resolution) and, as described herein, other parameters can be adjusted to obtain the desired plasma properties. Also included is sample preparation suitable for direct ionization IMS and/or other imaging modalities.

Systems and methods for sample analysis include applying, using a first laser source, a first beam to a sample to desorb organic material from a location of the sample and ionizing the desorbed organic material using a second laser source to generate ionized organic material. The ionized organic material is then analyzed using a mass spectrometer. A second beam from the first laser is then applied to the sample to ablate inorganic material from the location of the sample. The ablated inorganic material is then ionized using the second laser source to generate ionized inorganic material. The mass spectrometer is then used to analyze the ionized inorganic material. During analysis, one or more images of the sample may also be captured and linked to the collected analysis data.

A method of removing nuclear isobars from a mass spectrometric technique comprising directing ions, decelerating the ions, neutralizing a first portion of the ions, creating residual ions and a second portion of the ions, reionizing a selective portion of the ions, re-accelerating the selective reionized portion of ions, and directing the reionized portion of ions to a detector. An apparatus to remove nuclear isobars comprising a deceleration lens, an equipotential surface, an electron source to neutralize a portion of the ion beam, a deflector pair, a tunable resonance ionization laser for selective resonant reionization, and an acceleration lens.

Systems and methods for sample analysis include applying, using a first laser source, a first beam to a sample to desorb organic material from a location of the sample and ionizing the desorbed organic material using a second laser source to generate ionized organic material. The ionized organic material is then analyzed using a mass spectrometer. A second beam from the first laser is then applied to the sample to ablate inorganic material from the location of the sample. The ablated inorganic material is then ionized using the second laser source to generate ionized inorganic material. The mass spectrometer is then used to analyze the ionized inorganic material. During analysis, one or more images of the sample may also be captured and linked to the collected analysis data.

An ablation system for ablating a material can include a laser source, a set of homogenizing optics, and a homogenizing optics adjustment device. The laser source is for generating a laser beam. The set of homogenizing optics receives the laser beam and includes a first homogenizer and a second homogenizer. The homogenizing optics adjustment device carries the homogenizing optics, the homogenizing optics adjustment device configured to selectably adjust the position of at least one of the first homogenizer and the second homogenizer in order change a size of the laser beam, with a change in size of the beam changing the fluence thereof. The ablation system can be incorporated within a laser-ablation based analytical system, where the laser-ablation based analytical system includes a spectrometer.

The embodiments relate to a method and an apparatus for the molecular atomic analysis of a fluid in the gaseous state, in particular the method includes introducing a fluid in the gaseous state into a collection chamber having a predetermined internal volume V and generating a laser beam through a laser device. The method may also include focusing the beam onto the fluid sited in the collection chamber, in order to create an electric field in at least a portion V′ of the internal volume V, so as to excite the electrons residing on the atoms and molecules present in said fluid in the gaseous state, causing an atomic/molecular alteration of the fluid itself in said portion V′. The method provides detecting the elements emitted after focusing the beam on the fluid, through detection devices and analyzing the elements detected by the detection devices using a processing unit.

Disclosed are systems are methods for identifying the composition of single aerosol particles, particularly that of bioaerosol particles, without pre-treatment using complex organic MALDI matrices. A continuous timing laser may be used to index aerosol particles, measure particle properties, and trigger a pulse ionization laser. Ionized fragments and optionally photons associated with each particle producing by the ionization laser may be analyzed using one or more detectors including a TOF-MS detector and an optical detector. The laser pulse may comprise a simultaneous IR and UV laser pulse when fragments comprise predominantly of UV chromophores. Unique spectral data associated with each indexed particle from each detector may be compiled using data fusion to generate compiled spectral data. Machine learning methods may be used to improve the prediction of composition over time.

Disclosed are systems are methods for identifying the composition of single aerosol particles, particularly that of bioaerosol particles. A continuous timing laser tightly coupled with a pulse ionization laser is used to index aerosol particles, measure particle properties, and trigger the ionization laser to fire when each particle enters the beam of the trigger laser. Ionized fragments and optionally photons produced when each particle is struck by the ionization laser are analyzed using one or more detectors including a TOF-MS detector and an optical detector. Individual single particle spectra are aligned and denoised prior to averaging.