Surface Analysis by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS): Principles and Applications from Swiss laboratories

Authors

  • Johanna Marin Carbonne Earth Sciences Institute, University of Lausanne, Geopolis Mouline, CH 1015 Lausanne
  • Andras Kiss Laboratory of Advanced Technology (LTA), Quai E. Ansermet 24, CH 1211 Geneva; Department of Quantum Matter Physics (DQMP), University of Geneva, Quai E. Ansermet 24, CH 1211 Geneva
  • Anne-Sophie Bouvier Earth Sciences Institute, University of Lausanne, Geopolis Mouline, CH 1015 Lausanne
  • Anders Meibom Earth Sciences Institute, University of Lausanne, Geopolis Mouline, CH 1015 Lausanne; Laboratory for biological geochemistry, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Lukas Baumgartner Earth Sciences Institute, University of Lausanne, Geopolis Mouline, CH 1015 Lausanne
  • Thomas Bovay Earth Sciences Institute, University of Lausanne, Geopolis Mouline, CH 1015 Lausanne
  • Florent Plane Earth Sciences Institute, University of Lausanne, Geopolis Mouline, CH 1015 Lausanne; Laboratory for biological geochemistry, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Stephane Escrig Laboratory for biological geochemistry, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Daniela Rubatto Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Balzerstrasse 1+3, CH 3012 Bern

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2533/chimia.2022.26

PMID:

38069746

Keywords:

Biology, Earth sciences, Mass spectrometry, NanoSIMS, SIMS, Surface analysis, TOF-SIMS

Abstract

Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) extracts chemical, elemental, or isotopic information about a localized area of a solid target by performing mass spectrometry on secondary ions sputtered from its surface by the impact of a beam of charged particles. This primary beam sputters ionized atoms and small molecules (as well as many neutral particles) from the upper few nanometers of the sample surface. The physical basis of SIMS has been applied to a large range of applications utilizing instruments optimized with different types of mass analyzer, either dynamic SIMS with a double focusing mass spectrometer or static SIMS with a Time of Flight (TOF) analyzer. Here, we present a short review of the principles and major applications of three different SIMS instruments located in Switzerland.

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Published

2022-02-23