nanoscale SIMS

NanoSIMS is specifically designed to provide extremely high spatial resolution and is therefore suitable for isotopic analysis and quantification of light elements and isotopes. Most SIMS methods are difficult to implement in nano dimensions. This is due in particular to the often too large diameter of the primary ion beam and the vibrations that occur. This is because very small volumes have to be sputtered precisely for nanoscale imaging.
Modern NanoSIMS devices use primarily focused Cs+ or O- ion beams and enable subcellular resolution and thus absolute quantitative analysis at the organelle level. A high-energy primary ion beam is used to achieve subcellular spatial resolution in the range of ∼0.05 μm. The ion source in NanoSIMS is optimized for high beam stability and precision. The anlyzed molecules are usually labeled with stable isotopes, which makes sample preparation very time-consuming.
Magnetic sector field detectors are generally used for the analysis. Only a low sample throughput is achieved. Due to its ability for fast mass analysis and versatility, TOF-SIMS is preferred over nanoscale SIMS in a variety of industrial and scientific applications.

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