AN APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SUB-MICROMETER ELEMENTAL IMAGE ANALYSIS BY MASS SPECTROMETRY

摘要

A mass spectrometer system having: a primary ion source capable of irradiating a segment on a planar sample with a beam of primary ions, an orthogonal ion mass-to-charge ratio, the analyzer being configured to separate secondary elemental atomic ions according to their mass-to-charge ratio by time of flight; an ion detector for detecting secondary elemental atomic ions and producing mass spectra measurements; and a synchronizer. In the system, the beam of primary ions scans across the planar sample in two dimensions and the synchronizer associates the mass spectra measurements with positions on the planar sample.