Abstract
A new type of cluster SIMS, named as electrospray droplet impact (EDI), has been developed in our laboratory. It was found that peptides deposited on the stainless steel substrate were ionized/desorbed without the accumulation of radiation products. The organic samples with film thickness thinner than 10 monolayers are desorbed/ionized with little damage underneath the surface. In general, rather strong negative ions as well as positive ions are generated. The mechanism for the ionization/desorption in EDI is much less complicated than those for MALDI and SIMS due to the fact that only very thin sample layers take part in the shock-wave excited selvedge and higher-order side reactions are largely suppressed.
