TY - CONF A1 - Bierstedt, Andreas A1 - van Wasen, Sebastian A1 - Riedel, Jens T1 - Laser-spark ionization mass spectrometry N2 - A versatile ionization scheme for atmospheric pressure MS is presented. It is based on a quasi-continuous laser-induced plasma (LIP), generated by a 26 kHz pulsed DPSS-laser, which is ignited in front of the MS inlet. Analytes are determined with different sampling regimes, comprising either an ambient desorption/ionization mechanism, a liquid-phase or gas-phase sample introduction. The MS signal closely resembles the ionization behavior of APCI-like plasma-based sources, such as DBD or DART. Though LIPs are known to efficiently atomize/ionize any sample material, mass spectra of intact molecular ions are recorded, exhibiting low fragment-ion content. To understand this contradictory behavior, the plasma properties are investigated that lead to the formation of molecular ions. Comprehensive studies include optical emission spectroscopy, shadowgraph imaging and mass spectrometry diagnostics. The results show that the ionization of analyte does not occur in the plasma itself, but in the cold adjacent gas layer. The pulsed character of LIPs induces an expanding shockwave, which concentrically expands around the plasma core and sweeps the molecules toward the plasma edges, where they are ionized either directly by the self-emission of the hot core or via interaction with secondary reactants. However, this unidirectional transport causes a rarefaction inside the plasma center, which leads to a decrease in plasma intensity and number density. Thus, a restoration of the former gaseous medium by other dynamically equilibrated diffusion processes would be favorable. Besides gas replenishing, we demonstrate the beneficial use of an acoustical standing wave inside an ultrasonic resonator on the performance of the LIP. T2 - European Mass Spectrometry Conference 2018 CY - Saarbrücken, Germany DA - 11.03.2018 KW - Laser-spark ionization KW - Laser-induced plasma KW - Ambient mass spectrometry KW - DPSS laser PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-44492 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - You, Yi A1 - Bierstedt, Andreas A1 - Riedel, Jens T1 - Spatial, temporal, and spectral characterization and kinetic investigations of a high repetition-rate laser-induced micro-plasma in air N2 - Advances in laser-induced plasmas have enabled various rapid and simple analytical applications. Especially, their uses in the analyses of condensed-phase samples have drawn significant attention in the past few decades. Depending on the laser energy per pulse, various analytical goals can be achieved. Laser-induced airborne plasmas allow direct analysis of species in ambient air. Importantly, all of these applications are based on a fundamental understanding of the laser–medium interaction. Recent developments of diode-pumped solid-state lasers offer an alternative to conventional powerful, yet bulky lasers, which can specifically operate at high Repetition rates. Although these lasers deliver much lower power per pulse (mJ compared to mJ), the outstanding repetition rates offer significant improvement to meet statistical needs in some cases. In the present work, a mJ-laserinduced airborne plasma was characterized through optical emission analysis. By using a ns-timegated image detector coupled with specific bandpass filters, spatially, temporally, and spectrally resolved plasma images were recorded. Compared to conventional mJ-laser-induced plasmas, the one induced by mJ-lasers demonstrated unique features during its evolution. Specifically, measurements of the distribution of ionic and atomic species revealed distinctive energy/matter transfer processes during early ignition of the plasma. Meanwhile, dynamic investigations suggested subsequent matter transport in the later stage. KW - Laser-induced plasma KW - Plasma KW - DPSS-laser PY - 2019 UR - https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2019/ja/c9ja00163h U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/C9JA00163H SN - 0267-9477 VL - 34 IS - 8 SP - 1618 EP - 1629 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - London AN - OPUS4-48622 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bierstedt, Andreas A1 - Warschat, Carsten A1 - You, Yi A1 - Rurack, Knut A1 - Riedel, Jens T1 - Stimulated Raman scattering by intracavity mixing of nanosecond laser excitation and fluorescence in acoustically levitated droplets N2 - Raman spectroscopy is becoming a commonly used, powerful tool for structural elucidation and species identification of small liquid samples, e.g. in droplet-based digital microfluidic devices. Due to the low scattering cross sections and the temporal restrictions dictated by the droplet flow, however, it depends on amplification strategies which often come at a cost. In the case of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), this can be an enhanced susceptibility towards memory effects and cross talk, whereas resonant and/or stimulated Raman techniques require higher instrumental sophistication, such as tunable lasers or the high electromagnetic field strengths which are typically provided by femtosecond lasers. Here, an alternative instrumental approach is discussed, in which stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) is achieved using the single fixed wavelength output of an inexpensive diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) nanosecond laser. The required field strengths are realized by an effective light trapping in a resonator mode inside the interrogated droplets, while the resonant light required for the stimulation is provided by the fluorescence signal of an admixed laser dye. To elucidate the underlying optical processes, proof-of-concept experiments are conducted on acoustically levitated droplets, mimicking a highly reproducible and stable digital fluidic system. By using isotope-labeled compounds, the assignment of the emitted radiation as Raman scattering is firmly corroborated. A direct comparison reveals an amplification of the usually weak spontaneous Stokes emission by up to five orders of magnitude. Further investigation of the optical power dependence reveals the resulting gain to depend on the intensity of both, the input laser fluence and the concentration of the admixed fluorophore, leaving SRS as the only feasible amplification mechanism. While in this study stable large droplets have been studied, the underlying principles also hold true for smaller droplets, in which case significantly lower laser pulse energy is required. Since DPSS lasers are readily available with high repetition rates, the presented detection strategy bears a huge potential for fast online identification and characterization routines in digital microfluidic devices. KW - Ultrasonic levitation KW - Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy PY - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/D0AY01504K VL - 12 IS - 42 SP - 5046 EP - 5054 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-51566 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bierstedt, Andreas A1 - Panne, Ulrich A1 - Riedel, Jens T1 - Confinement and enhancement of an airborne atmospheric laser-induced plasma using an ultrasonic acoustic resonator N2 - Optical elemental analysis in the gas phase typically relies on electrically driven plasmas. As an alternative approach, laser-induced plasmas (LIPs) have been suggested but have so far been only scarcely used. Here, a novel signal enhancement strategy for laser-based airborne plasma optical Emission spectroscopy for gas phase analytics is presented. In contrast to an electrically driven plasma, in the laser-induced analogue dynamic matter transport equilibrium builds up. The latter results in a rarefied density regime in the plasma core itself, surrounded by an area of compressed matter. The central rarefaction leads to a decrease in plasma intensity and analyte number density, both of which are detrimental for analytical purposes. Since the repetitive ignition of LIPs is a transient process, a restoration of the former gaseous medium by other dynamically equilibrated diffusion processes would be favourable. The presented combination of an airborne LIP and an ultrasonic acoustic resonator yields a fourfold signal enhancement while the Background contribution of ubiquitous air is at the same time effectively suppressed. Since the entire enhancement effect occurs without contact, no additional sources for abrasive sample contamination are introduced. KW - DPSS laser KW - Laser-induced plasma KW - High repetition rate KW - Ultrasonic acoustic resonator KW - Optical emission spectroscopy PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/C7JA00297A SN - 0267-9477 SN - 1364-5544 VL - 33 IS - 1 SP - 135 EP - 140 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - London AN - OPUS4-43619 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - 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 U6 - 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 -