Scanning Microscopy Using XUV-Laser Ablation Mass Spectrometry
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
In this seminar I would like to share my experience with almost six-month usage of the XUV-laser mass spectrometer. I will present some of the preliminary results achieved after irradiation of various solid samples like all-carbon allotropes, organic polymers, metallic samples, including multilayers as well as other composite targets.
The NSF Research Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Science & Technology at Colorado State University in Fort Collins (Colorado, USA) is a world-leading laboratory in development of plasma-based sources of coherent extreme ultraviolet (XUV) and X-ray radiation and its applications.
Professor Carmen Menoni (my mentor in the Mobility II project) is focusing her work on using the XUV/X-ray laser beams in numerous research areas of physical, chemical, and biomedical sciences and other technical fields. Typical representative of such an instrument with great application potential is recently developed XUV-laser ablation mass spectrometer. It uses XUV beam of capillary-discharge laser focused by Fresnel zone plate to sub-micron spot in order to reach high fluence which can easily exceed the ablation threshold of studied material by a single XUV laser pulse.
The plasma plume created by XUV-laser ablation of the material is then extracted into a time-of-flight mass spectrometer with reflectron configuration to reveal a mass-velocity distribution of liberated ions. Programmable transversal position control of the sample with respect to the laser nanobeam makes possible to get a high lateral resolution. Thus, the layout can be operated as a scanning ion emission microscope. Longitudinal movement of the sample with respect to the zone plate (so called z-scan) can be utilized to study the ablation/desorption processes induced by the XUV-laser nanobeam at various fluences.
Online Zoom event: https://cesnet.zoom.us/j/94981671990