High-resolution microscope-mode secondary ion mass spectrometry imaging

Journal article

We report the development of a secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) microscope-mode imaging instrument suitable for a wide range of applications in which high throughput is an advantage. By coupling time-of-flight mass spectrometry with pulsed ion extraction methods, the instrument can provide mass resolutions of m/Δm ∼ 2000 across a mass range of m/z ≳ 1000. We show that the use of an ion imaging detector with a fast scintillator screen, yielding time-of-flight time resolutions of a few nanoseconds, improves the mass resolution further to m/Δm ∼ 6900. Spatial resolutions of better than 5 μm were also obtained under optimum conditions. We demonstrate the capability of the instrument by imaging atomic and molecular ion species in mouse brain tissue sections, capturing a range of biologically relevant ions, including phospholipid and amino acid fragments, over millimeter length scales within minutes.

Authors: Jia, Y; Castellani, ME; Cheung, K; Su, Y; Burt, M

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Journal: Analytical Chemistry
• Volume: 98
• Issue: 9
• Pages: 7028–7037
• Publication date: 2026-02-24
• Acceptance date: 2026-02-20
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.5c07789
• EISSN: 1520-6882
• ISSN: 0003-2700
• Language: English
• Keywords: mass spectrometry; mass spectrometry imaging; secondary ion mass spectrometry; ion; analytical chemistry (journal); detector; resolution (logic); range (aeronautics); scintillator