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Secondary ion mass spectrometry

Nature Reviews Methods Primers volume 4, Article number: 32 (2024) Cite this article

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Abstract

Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) is a technique for chemical analysis and imaging of solid materials, with applications in many areas of science and technology. It involves bombarding a sample surface under high vacuum with energetic primary ions. The ejected secondary ions undergo mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) analysis and are detected. The resulting mass spectrum contains detailed surface chemical information with sub-monolayer sensitivity. Different experimental configurations provide chemically resolved depth distribution and 2D or 3D images. SIMS is complementary to other surface analysis techniques, such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; chemical imaging techniques, for example, vibrational microspectroscopy methods such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy; and other mass spectrometry imaging techniques, including desorption electrospray ionization and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization. Features of SIMS include high spatial resolution, high depth resolution and broad chemical sensitivity to all elements, isotopes and molecules up to several thousand mass units. This Primer describes the operating principles of SIMS and outlines how the instrument geometry and operational parameters enable different modes of operation and information to be obtained. Applications, including materials science, surface science, electronic devices, geosciences and life sciences, are explored, finishing with an outlook for the technique.

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Fig. 1: A schematic overview of the secondary ion mass spectrometry experiment.
Fig. 2: Example data formats from secondary ion mass spectrometry analysis.
Fig. 3: Representative case studies of application of secondary ion mass spectrometry in characterization of advanced materials.
Fig. 4: Representative case studies of application of secondary ion mass spectrometry in characterization of electronic devices and geoscience.
Fig. 5: Representative case studies of application of secondary ion mass spectrometry in life and biomedical sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Photon Science Institute, Department of Chemistry, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Nicholas P. Lockyer

  2. Faculty of Science and Technology, Seikei University, Musashino, Tokyo, Japan

    Satoka Aoyagi

  3. Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    John S. Fletcher

  4. National Centre of Excellence in Mass Spectrometry Imaging, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, UK

    Ian S. Gilmore

  5. Department of Materials and Component Analysis (MCA), IMEC, Leuven, Belgium

    Paul A. W. van der Heide

  6. Photon Science Institute, Department of Materials, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Katie L. Moore

  7. Physikalisches Institut and Center for Soft Nanoscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany

    Bonnie J. Tyler

  8. Materials Characterization and Preparation Facility (GZ), Thrust of Advanced Materials, Function Hub, Guangzhou Municipal Key Laboratory of Materials Informatics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, China

    Lu-Tao Weng

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  1. Nicholas P. Lockyer
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Contributions

Introduction (N.P.L., J.S.F., I.S.G., P.A.W.v.d.H. and K.L.M.); Experimentation (N.P.L., J.S.F., I.S.G., P.A.W.v.d.H., K.L.M. and B.J.T.); Results (N.P.L., S.A. and B.J.T.); Applications (N.P.L., J.S.F., I.S.G., P.A.W.v.d.H., K.L.M. and L.-T.W.); Reproducibility and data deposition (N.P.L., I.S.G. and P.A.W.v.d.H.); Limitations and optimizations (N.P.L. and I.S.G.); Outlook (N.P.L., S.A., J.S.F., I.S.G., P.A.W.v.d.H., K.L.M. and B.J.T., L.-T.W.); overview of the Primer (all authors).

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicholas P. Lockyer.

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Nature Reviews Methods Primers thanks Morgan Alexander, Tim Spila, Edwin De Pauw and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Related links

Human Metabolome Database: https://hmdb.ca/

International standards: https://www.iso.org/committee/54656/x/catalogue/p/1/u/0/w/0/d/0

Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes: https://www.genome.jp/kegg/

NBtoolbox: https://depts.washington.edu/nesacbio/mvsa/nbtoolbox

Glossary

Fluence

The time-integrated flux of primary ions incident on the sample.

Heteroscedasticity

A variable is heteroscedastic if the variance is different for different observations.

Multiplexed ion beam imaging

A technique combining secondary ion mass spectrometry with metal-labelled antibodies to image multiple proteins in a single scan at subcellular spatial resolution.

Primary ion beam

Ions that are used to sputter the sample.

Secondary ions

Ions that are derived from the sample material.

Secondary ion yield

The ratio of the number of secondary ions formed to the number of primary ions impacting the sample.

Sputter yield

The ratio of the number of secondary species (ions and neutrals) formed to the number of primary ions impacting the sample.

Tandem mass spectrometry

The study of ions that are subjected to two sequential stages of the mass-to-charge ratio analysis, which may be separated spatially or temporally. An intermediate fragmentation step enhances structural elucidation.

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Lockyer, N.P., Aoyagi, S., Fletcher, J.S. et al. Secondary ion mass spectrometry. Nat Rev Methods Primers 4, 32 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-024-00311-9

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