Multimodal Ion Beam Imaging facility: Multimodal 3D elemental and molecular imaging at the sub-micron scale

Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) is widely used by industry and academia for 3D imaging of elements and molecular fragments to gain information on structure and content. With excellent spatial resolution, SIMS has enabled significant advances in the development of solar cells, semiconductor devices, batteries and biomedical research. However, SIMS still suffers from a few drawbacks, namely: (a) matrix effects, which cause artefacts in both images and depth profiles; (b) incompatible analytical conditions for the detection of elemental and molecular species; and (c) fragmentation, which precludes identification of larger organic molecules.
Water cluster ion sources are a new development offering remarkable gains in sensitivity for organic molecule measurement, partially addressing limitation (c) above. Again, even this state-of-the-art system does not address
limitations (a) and (b) above.

This proposal will overcome these limitations by providing an internationally unique, cutting-edge capability for 3D molecular and elemental imaging at the sub-micron scale, by using both water cluster and MeV ion sources already located at the University of Surrey. This will enable more than a step-change in materials characterisation for UK academics and industry working in areas supported by EPSRC and other UKRI sponsors

We will install and commission an internationally unique system in the Surrey Ion Beam Centre at the University of Surrey that will provide multimodal 3D imaging of elements and molecules at the sub-micron scale using label-free, non-targeted techniques. Specifically, the system will enable:
(i) high-resolution imaging of larger molecules
(ii) multimodal elemental and molecular imaging
(iii) multimodal depth profiling
This will be achieved by combining MeV ion beam analysis (X rays, gamma rays, backscattered particles) and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) in a single system. The Surrey Ion Beam Centre is the ideal host for this equipment, as it is not only a National Facility, but has also developed a proven business model, involving academic and industrial users, that will ensure the long term sustainable operation of the new capability. One of the main aims is to promote this added and unique capability to engage with a broader range of partners, especially those involved in health-related search and development, such as cancer treatment and drug testing.