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Spatially Resolved Laser And Thermal Desorption/Ionization Coupled With Mass Spectrometry, Olga Sergeevna Ovchinnikova

Doctoral Dissertations

The work discussed in this dissertation is aimed at creating novel approaches to chemical imaging that ultimately allow for submicron resolution. This goal has been approached from two direction using laser based desorption and coupling it with an AFM using apertureless tip-enhanced laser ablation/ionization. The second direction was through the development a new approach to thermal desorption based mass spectrometry experiments by using a proximal probe to spatially desorb the surface and ionizing the plume of neutrals using a secondary ionization source at atmospheric pressure. The thermal desorption approach allows for the easy scaling of the technique all the way …