TY - JOUR A1 - Bierstedt, Andreas A1 - You, Yi A1 - van Wasen, Sebastian A1 - Bosc-Bierne, Gaby A1 - Weller, Michael G. A1 - Riedel, Jens T1 - Laser-Induced Microplasma as an Ambient Ionization Approach for the Mass-Spectrometric Analysis of Liquid Samples N2 - An airborne high repetition rate laser-induced plasma was applied as a versatile ambient ionization source for mass-spectrometric determinations of polar and nonpolar analytes in solution. The laser plasma was sustained between a home-built pneumatic nebulizer and the inlet capillary of an Orbitrap mass spectrometer. To maintain stable conditions in the droplet-rich spray environment, the plasma was directly fed by the fundamental output (λ = 1064 nm) of a current state-of-the-art diode-pumped solid-state laser. Ionization by the laser-driven plasma resulted in signals of intact analyte ions of several chemical categories. The analyte ions were found to be fully desolvated since no further increase in ion signal was observed upon heating of the inlet capillary. Due to the electroneutrality of the plasma, both positive and negative analyte ions could be formed simultaneously without altering the operational parameters of the ion source. While, typically, polar analytes with pronounced gas phase basicities worked best, nonpolar and amphoteric compounds were also detected. The latter were detected with lower ion signals and were prone to a certain degree of fragmentation induced during the ionization process. All the described attests the laser-induced microplasma by a good performance in terms of stability, robustness, sensitivity, and general applicability as a self-contained ion source for the liquid sample introduction. KW - Laser KW - Laser-induced plasma KW - Ambient ionization KW - Mass Spectrometry PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.9b00329 SN - 0003-2700 VL - 91 IS - 9 SP - 5922 EP - 5928 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, DC, USA AN - OPUS4-47939 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chan, George C.-Y. A1 - Engelhard, Carsten A1 - Wiley, Joshua S. A1 - Shoulds, Ayanna U. A1 - Cooks, R. Graham A1 - Hieftje, Gary M. A1 - Shelley, Jacob T. T1 - Characterization of a Low-Temperature Plasma (LTP) Ambient Ionization Source Using Temporally Resolved Monochromatic Imaging Spectrometry N2 - The low-temperature plasma (LTP) probe is a common plasma-based source used for ambient desorption–ionization mass spectrometry (MS). While the LTP probe has been characterized in detail with MS, relatively few studies have used optical spectroscopy. In this paper, two-dimensional (2D) imaging at selected wavelengths is used to visualize important species in the LTP plasma jet. First, 2D steady-state images of the LTP plume for N2+ (391.2 nm), He I (706.5 nm), and N2 (337.1 nm) emissions were recorded under selected plasma conditions. Second, time-resolved 2D emission maps of radiative species in the LTP plasma jet were recorded through the use of a 200 ns detection gate and varying gate delays with respect to the LTP trigger pulse. Emission from He I, N2+, and N2 in the plasma jet region was found to show a transient behavior (often referred to as plasma bullets) lasting only a few microseconds. The N2+ and He I maps were highly correlated in spatial and temporal structure. Further, emission from N2 showed two maxima in time, one before and one after the maximum emission for N2+ and He I, due to an initial electronic excitation wave and ion–electron recombination, respectively. Third, the interaction of the LTP probe with a sample substrate and an electrically grounded metallic needle was studied. Emission from a fluorophore on the sample substrate showed an initial photon-induced excitation from plasma-generated photons followed by electronic excitation by other plasma species. The presence of a grounded needle near the plasma jet significantly extended the plasma jet lifetime and also generated a long-lived corona discharge on the needle. The effect of LTP operating parameters on emission spectra was correlated with mass-spectral results including reagent-ion signals. Lastly, five movies provide a side-by-side comparison of the temporal behavior of emitting species and insights into the interactions of the emission clouds with a sample surface as well as an external needle. Temporally and spatially resolved imaging provided insights into important processes in the LTP plasma jet, which will help improve analyte ion sampling in LTP–MS. KW - Optical spectroscopy KW - Low-temperature plasma KW - Ambient ionization KW - Instrumentation PY - 2023 DO - https://doi.org/10.1177/00037028231184501 VL - 77 IS - 8 SP - 940 EP - 956 PB - SAGE Publications AN - OPUS4-61269 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -